Frequently Asked Questions
BHA General Question
Where are you based?
We still aren’t sure why people look at us funny when we share this bit of info: BHA recently relocated from the Bay Area to the Twin Cities. The BHA offices are located in Apple Valley, MN – just south of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Yes, we were well aware of the fact that it is cold here before deciding to move here. No, we’re not crazy.
What the heck is a Blue Heeler?
Most days, we’d say the Blue Heeler is a gift from the Gods: the most wonderful breed on the planet. And then there are the days when we’d like to sleep in, but the 200 decibel alarm clock called Niko won’t allow it… Blue Heelers are also known as Australian Cattle Dogs as the breed comes from Down Under originally, a result of combining the native wild dogs (Dingoes) with Dalmatians, and lots of magic to come up with the smartest, most loyal, and sturdiest breed out there. Don’t take our word for it – learn more about the breed here.
What’s special about BHA? Why pick you versus another firm?
We hope you choose us because of our good looks and even better sense of humor. But it’s more likely going to be due to a combination of our healthcare expertise, wicked creative talents, and compelling price point. Oh, and our clients also get to meet Niko, which we like to think is a HUGE selling point.
What’s your pricing structure?
We know that early-stage ventures run on a shoestring budget. So, we offer a sliding-scale fee model that is based on the growth stage of our clients. As our clients mature in their growth, we ask they move their payment for our services up the scale. This allows us to be ridiculously affordable to very early stage/self-funded companies, and yet still offer highly competitive rates to those who have healthy revenue and/or a healthy infusion of venture capital. We also structure our fees on a variety of models: per hour, per project, or on retainer.
What markets do you serve?
We focus exclusively on providing our services to new ventures (companies less than three years/30 employees) in the healthcare technology space. We’ve seen too much crappy marketing and design developed for healthcare technology companies and have made it our mission to provide the industry with a source for attractive, witty, creative, and effective messaging. Of course, we reserve the right to focus on other things as well.
What’s the story behind the company name?
How we wish we had some incredible story to share. But it’s pretty simple and practical. When we decided to launch, we weren’t 100% sure if we’d focus only on healthcare, and thus wanted a name that didn’t lock us into one market segment. Since Erin has been a Heeler fanatic forever, she felt she had to go with a name that had something to do with the breed. However, if we were pushed to come up with a tie between the name and our services, we’d say we settled on “Blue Heeler Arts” due to the fact the breed has the qualities our clients need: intelligence, determination, loyalty, and creativity. And the ability to ride herd as long as necessary to get the job done!