It has taken me 14 months to finally take stock of what took place in my business. As with many owners, 2020 did not deliver the outcomes I was expecting.
The idea of re-living those disappointments felt so painful… that I decided to delay the Year In Review process until now.
Continue reading “My 2020 Business Year In Review (a Year Late)”
We’re almost at the end of another year! And although 2021 may not have gone as expected, you now have a choice:
Quality is much different than quantity. It includes sensations and feelings from interviews, discussions, and narrative stories that are difficult to turn into specific numbers.
Although it takes more time to collect, qualitative data is extremely helpful because it provides a depth of understanding about very complex problems.
Continue reading “15 More Places to Look for Strategic Risk in a Company: Qualitative”
There are many places to look for signs that something in your company needs to be adjusted.
In this post, I’ll share 20 different places where your business can look to avoid a potential catastrophe. I also explain how to evaluate these sources for vulnerabilities, and which questions to ask.
Continue reading “20 Excellent Places to Look for Strategic Risk in a Company: Quantitative”
I believe there are 4 steps to find customers who will perfectly fit your expertise and business philosophy, and 3 tools that can help.
Continue reading “How Do You Find an Ideal Customer? Which Tools Can Help?”
As a new year starts, I want to share what happened in the past 365 days and how I have decided to adjust my company.
How well did your business do this year?
Answering this question can bring up a lot of emotions, especially if things did not go as expected. You might feel the pressure of setting end-of-year deadlines. Looking back can result in guilt if we didn’t reach our goals, or anxiety about setting new ones.
Many business owners feel a tug-of-war between accomplishing daily duties AND stepping back to see the “30,000-foot view” of their company. But even though it can be really scary, doing a Year In Review is very helpful. That’s why I recommend taking time to look back at what happened using data that is quantitative (numbers) and qualitative (experiences). Once you review the results (good and bad), you reduce the risk of failure by making adjustments to your plans for the next year.
Here are six helpful resources to guide you through the process.
Continue reading “6 Resources That Can Help You Analyze the Past Year”
As part of my Year In Review, I kept track of how many books I was able to read. Compared to last year, I finished fewer books (21 books versus 26 last year). But although less of my time in 2018 was spent reading, I chose to delve into a few subjects that took more effort to get through.
Continue reading “My Honest Review of the 21 Books I Finished in 2018”
Another year has come to a close.
It’s time to reflect on how 2018 went.
And that can feel… like getting your teeth drilled at the dentist’s office.
I’ll admit, as much as I believe in how great the Year In Review process is, that doesn’t make it entirely pleasant to actually experience. But the benefits make this sometimes painful process worthwhile.
You’re invited to read my analysis of what happened—good and bad—for my business in 2018.
Some years, things go really well.
And some years, they do not.
If you’ve experienced a lot of difficulties in your business, you may be tempted to see it as a massive failure:
“What a crummy year! It was so terrible. I can hardly wait for it to be over.”
“The new year can’t come soon enough.”
Even you were not able to meet your strategic business objectives this year, I encourage you to consider the positives that happened, rather than speeding past it.
Continue reading “What to Do If Your “Year In Review” is a Disappointment”
