Following the success of our sustainable growth conversations, we're diving deeper into the strategies that help businesses not just grow, but grow with resilience.

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This isn't about growth at all costs. It's about building marketing systems that generate revenue from day one, creating brands that attract and retain loyal customers, and making smart long-term decisions about where to invest your time and money.

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To kick us off, I sat down with Roelof Hengst, a serial entrepreneur whose journey spans from co-founding the global SaaS consultancy Winning by Design to launching a local magnesium supplements brand, and most recently, diving into conversational AI.

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His diverse experience offers fascinating insights into what it takes to build resilient businesses across completely different sectors.

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The Power of Existing Customers

One of the most striking insights from Roelof's time at Winning by Design—where they helped hundreds of SaaS companies scale—was how often successful growth gets misunderstood.

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"VP of sales or revenue operations are always focused on new logos. It's all about new logos," he explains. "But the main lesson we taught was: focus on existing customers and grow them."

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This might sound obvious, but it's remarkably rare in practice. Most companies pour resources into acquisition whilst neglecting the goldmine sitting right in front of them. Roelof's team consistently found that the most resilient growth came from companies that built expansion loops into their business model from the start.

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Key takeaway: Don't just acquire customers, grow them. The most sustainable revenue often comes from the customers you already have.

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The Compelling Story Trap

Another pattern Roelof noticed across successful companies was the power of a compelling story. But here's where it gets interesting and where many businesses get stuck.

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"Sometimes it was really tough to define the company story. What is your company about?" he reflects. "Most of the successful companies we encounter have a compelling story and they really want to focus on impact, delivering impact at the customer level."

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For Roelof's magnesium business, the story is deeply personal. Living above one of the world's purest magnesium sources, discovering how it helped his own health issues, and realising hardly anyone knew about this local treasure. That personal connection isn't just marketing fluff, it's what motivates him and his team every day.

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Key takeaway: Your story needs to be compelling to you first. If it doesn't motivate you, it won't motivate your customers.

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The Process-First Approach

One of the biggest traps Roelof sees early-stage companies fall into is hiring too fast, particularly when it comes to sales leadership.

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"Especially in early stages when companies start to get some traction, they want to hire a VP of sales as soon as they can. That might be a trap," he warns. "Focus on getting the processes in place first, see where that leads you, and then potentially hire a VP of sales."

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This process-first approach becomes even more powerful when combined with AI automation. As Roelof puts it: "There's no legacy yet. If you're AI native, you're almost like a speedboat competing against big cruise liners."

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Key takeaway: Build your systems before you build your team. In the age of AI, small teams with smart processes can outmaneuver much larger competitors.

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The Reality of Bootstrapping

Roelof's transition from running a 120-person global consultancy to bootstrapping a local supplements brand with just four people (including two couples) offers hard-won wisdom about the realities of starting over.

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"Have a runway, have realistic runway. And always expect things to last three times as long as you anticipated," he advises. "Then trust the process."

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But perhaps more importantly, he emphasises the courage required to know when to stop: "Have the guts to say, no, this might not be the good path... Some entrepreneurs say okay I'll keep on going until the end, but it's also big courage if you allow yourself, okay, this is not working."

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His barometer for this decision? "If your soul is not... if you start losing your personal momentum and your motivation, then it's probably time to move on."

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Key takeaway: Plan for things to take three times longer than expected, but don't be afraid to pivot when your gut tells you it's time.

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Finding Product-Market Fit Through Customer Feedback

Moving from B2B SaaS to D2C supplements taught Roelof entirely new lessons about product-market fit. The feedback loop is faster but the signals are different.

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"Getting reviews from clients and getting some conversations with users of the product... especially the magnesium on a personal level, it helps me with taking care of my body and seeing that from third parties," he explains.

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Interestingly, they discovered they had a sweet spot with women over 30 (he jokes about noticing a pattern in the names starting with certain letters). But more importantly, customer feedback led to major product changes—like switching from plastic to glass packaging based on customer preferences.

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Key takeaway: In D2C, your customers will tell you exactly what they want. Listen to them, especially about the details you might not have considered.

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The Daily Wins Philosophy

Perhaps my favourite insight from our conversation was Roelof's approach to celebrating success. Rather than waiting for major milestones, he and his team celebrate daily wins.

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"Not only celebrate your big wins, but celebrate your daily wins as well," he suggests. "At dinner, having a wine or a beer. Those are the small daily wins."

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This isn't just about morale—it's about building resilience. When you're bootstrapping and every day brings new challenges, finding reasons to celebrate keeps you motivated for the long haul.

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Key takeaway: Resilience is built through daily practice. Celebrate the small wins alongside the big ones.

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Looking Forward

As Roelof embarks on his latest venture in conversational AI, he's applying patterns he's recognised across 30 years in business. But he's also staying true to what has worked: focusing on impact, building compelling stories, and celebrating the journey.

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"You're not failing. Maybe that project failed, but you as a person start becoming stronger and you learn from it and then move on," he reflects.

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That's perhaps the most important lesson about resilient growth: it's not about avoiding failure, it's about building the systems, processes, and mindset that help you bounce back stronger.

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Want to dive deeper into resilient growth strategies? We'll be exploring more tactical approaches to building businesses that can weather any storm whilst maintaining sustainable growth.

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You can connect with Roelof on LinkedIn or learn more about his magnesium business at magnesiumomg.com, or watch the full interview here.