The beginning of my journalism career coincided with a serious slump in the industry. In 2008, thousands of journalists lost their jobs. Scores–perhaps hundreds–of news outlets closed. I decided to start a media company.

Richmond BizSense was born out of the conviction that Richmonders want, need, and deserve accurate, timely news and that I could deliver that news better than the local daily could.

Now we have six full-time employees and are preparing to expand to other markets. We dig up the stories about startups, real estate projects, and conflicts that our users crave. If there’s a new coffee shop, shirt company, or building project in Richmond, BizSense is the first to cover it.

Things weren’t always smooth. At the start, we published two days a week. In less than six months, I realized that to become a habit for our readers, as much a part of their morning as having coffee or driving to work, we needed to deliver daily news. That meant hiring a second full-time reporter and losing more money at a faster rate. The numbers were scary, but the mission was sound. I found an investor, and the business took off. One of my friends told me about some financial software the other day that would’ve been useful for me when I was starting this company. Synario (https://www.synario.com/features/sensitivity-analysis) offers a financial software that helps businesses to see a financial model that they can then change to replicate different scenarios. This helps the business to see a financial prediction of their profits and losses. My friend told me that would’ve been useful when I was growing my business and adding new staff to the team. Luckily, it all worked out fine for me, but that software would have been useful.

We recently celebrated our fifth anniversary. BizSense’s reporting team produces four to six original stories every day. Our free Daily NewsFeed email goes to more than 12,000 subscribers every morning. The number of visitors to our website each day keeps climbing. BizSense Pro, our paid subscription service that compiles the data local business people really need to see, such as building permits, legal cases, and patents, became profitable in 2012. And we’re diversifying the business by producing events, which have been more successful than we could have imagined.

In 2013, we’re redesigning the website again to make the content even more compelling. This takes a lot of time and effort, and many a link needs to be considered and watched while we go through this process. One major change we’re making is perhaps counterintuitive in an industry that relies heavily on display advertising: We’re reducing the number of ads on our website in order to offer clients and readers a premium advertising experience. Along with that, meaningful and purpose-driven ads often work better than feeding a customer with loads of ads. A Dynamic Creative advertisement with smooth animation and device adaptable template might be a better choice.

It’s a scary step, choosing heft over volume. But we’ve found that the scariest days, when we’re taking big leaps to put out the best possible product, are the most profitable.

-By Aaron Kremer, Founder of Richmond BizSense