Running a small business can be hard. Most of us were not very good at it when we started, but (hopefully) we kept going anyway. We tried to do our best with the skills we had. We worked hard, made mistakes, and (hopefully) learned from those mistakes. Lather, rinse, repeat. It’s really amazing that we made it this far, isn’t …
Step Out on That Ledge
All of us suffer from the same malady: we’re human. As humans, we’re extremely comfortable with our routines. We’re reassured by the fact that we know what happens next; that we have a good idea of how things are going to work. We like it when things go according to plan; we’re happy when our lives play out exactly like …
Smashing the Piggybank
If you’re like me, and grew up in a much simpler time, you’re probably familiar with the piggybank. As kids, we all had a piggybank sitting on top our dresser or desk, and we would faithfully put money into the piggybank every time we came across a windfall. Birthday card from Grandma; money in the piggybank. Allowance for cleaning up …
Can We Live With Constant Change?
The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day. Steven Pressfield Unless you’re brand new at this small business thing (and if you are, good luck to you), we’ve all made it through the dreaded start-up phase. We’ve soldiered on, taken our lumps, run the gauntlet, …
Jumping Off the Cliff. Making the Difficult Changes in Our Lives
Unless you have completely given up all hope, which unfortunately happens to some of us, we are all driven to succeed in our lives and in our businesses. And that drive for success pushes us to make improvements in our processes. We usually make those improvements in small, incremental steps. We study the data, looking to see what has served …
What’s the Opportunity Here? Making Difficult Decisions
What do we do when faced with an opportunity? How do we decide what’s our best course of action? What happens if we can’t make the hard decision?