Small Business Spotlight: Quantious
How Small Businesses can build stronger teams by making every dollar count
Photo by Rick Esposito
Small businesses put in the work, often with tighter margins, leaner teams, and fewer resources than their larger counterparts. But running a small business shouldn't mean missing out on the rewards and experiences that help teams grow stronger and stay connected.
According to recent data, more than 1 in 5 small business owners work over 50 hours weekly. With so much to do, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, leaving little room for thinking about the bigger picture. But for Lisa Larson-Kelley, founder of the B2B marketing agency Quantious, building strong relationships within her team has been just as crucial as getting the work done.
"Relationships are everything," she says. "It's how I built this business from the ground up."
Building a Remote-First Company Where Connections Come First
Quantious started as a one-woman consultancy. Today, it's a fully remote agency with 26 employees located all over the world. As a globally distributed team, Quantious prioritizes staying connected through Camp Quantious, an annual in-person retreat built around bonding, creativity, and team building.
Company trips have led the team from Asheville, NC to Puerto Rico and beyond, and they're always designed with intention. "We don't sit in a boardroom all day," she adds. "We kayak, we hike, we spend time together. That connection carries through everything we do."
Quantious uses the Capital One Venture X Business card to maximize the value of every dollar they spend. Further, as a Capital One Business banking customer, Quantious benefits from a strategic financial partner dedicated to supporting their growth—helping ensure that team retreats remain both affordable and sustainable as the company scales.
Turning Everyday Business Spending into Meaningful Experiences
The Venture X Business card gives Quantious the flexibility to manage large travel costs without worry, allowing the team to focus on creating an unforgettable experience rather than managing budget constraints.
The key is treating financial planning as an extension of team investment. The company has funded major trip costs almost entirely with miles by charging recurring expenses to their Venture X Business card, like subscriptions, software licenses, and client tools. Based on their rewards strategy, Larson-Kelley and her COO, Katie Brown, look ahead to future retreats and plan which expenses to charge.
After each retreat, we’ve already earned miles toward the next one. The ability to earn and redeem miles this way means our team gets something extra. With Capital One, we can book airport lounges to make the travel a little more comfortable for employees when they have long layovers or flight delays, which is something we wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.
Photo by Lisa Larson-Kelley
Setting Your Small Business Apart Starts with Smart Financial Planning
In the early days of building Quantious, Larson-Kelley didn’t have easy access to outside funding. Instead, she bootstrapped everything by sharing an office space and relying on her network to grow her business. That experience taught her the value of cash flow, understanding her numbers, and using credit wisely.
She recalls when she had to cover a large expense of over $50,000 before a client payment came through. With no preset spending limit¹, the card gives her big purchasing power and she was able to get peace of mind before a large transaction using the confirm purchasing power tool.
This reinforced a lesson she believes many small business owners overlook: “A lot of small business owners, we're just scraping by and may not stop to think clearly about cash flow cycles,” she says. “Having just a little bit of credit in your strategy is a great way to manage expenses—if you do it strategically.”
Investing Even Further, One Reward at a Time
Today, Quantious is looking to deepen its investment in in-person moments, including one-on-one working sessions at its new headquarters in New York, all with rewards.
My advice to other business owners? If you think about all the money you spend as a business owner—every dollar you put out—if those dollars aren’t making you something back, then you’re just leaving all that money on the table
Learn more about Capital One’s suite of small business products and services here.
About Capital One Business
Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses, and commercial clients. Capital One Business offers a diverse suite of financial products, tools and services designed specifically for small businesses, including credit cards with unlimited rewards and banking products and services. Capital One Business is committed to fueling the courageous entrepreneurial spirit that's at the heart of American small businesses. We are focused on listening to and learning from the millions of businesses we serve every day to make sure our products, services and experiences work as hard as they do.
¹Customers can unlock more purchasing power with no preset spending limit than with fixed line products. Purchasing power is not unlimited and changes over time based on spending behavior, payment history, credit profile and other factors.
