1. Should You Spend Less Time At The
Office?
Given the hectic,
stressful lifestyles of most business owners and managers, it is no wonder that
‘enjoy life more & take more vacations’ is a popular new year resolution.
Get hotel reservations and airplane tickets one year in advance of your next
vacation to make sure you do what you want to do. And don’t take your cell
phone or computer! Plus go out and see at least 20 customers over the next 20
days weeks.
2. Should You Start Your Fitness Program?
Can too much
exercise can be bad for your health? Plus if you don’t workout today, you’ll be
more rested tomorrow and then can workout even harder. Working out also reduces
your ability to be at work more hours, take on more responsibilities, and make
more money! So, when you finally make enough money, then you can afford to buy
some workout clothes that make you look fit, join a gym, and get on a program. What
about the fitness of your company as well? Are you also examining what needs to
improve, where you need to trim the fat, or what areas need to get fit? Look at
your business fitness goals for the next 12 months. Think about your future and
imagine what you want to be different or better one year from now.
3. Should You Gain 175 Pounds?
After all, skinny people
look worse than heavy ones. Over 66 percent of adult Americans are considered
overweight. So it’s not surprising to find that weight loss is one of the most
popular New Year's resolutions. In your business, where should you add some weight to lessen your load?
Perhaps you need to add a professional office manager, accounting manager,
project manager, estimator, or field superintendent. When you add a real pro
who can help take some of your workload, you’ll be able to focus on the
priorities that will increase your sales and improve your bottom-line.
4. Should You Spend More Than You Make?
Live way, way, way beyond your
means is the new normal while you wait for the economy to turn around. In
business, don’t sell your equipment and even consider buying more at irresistible
prices. This will force you to hire a mechanic, buy a service vehicle, and rent
a bigger yard to house all your equipment. This will force you to work harder
to make the payments and cover your monthly overhead. And the new economic
stimulus will hopefully provide enough opportunities for you to keep your fleet
working at least some of the time! A positive New Year’s resolution is to get a
handle on your finances now! As you have heard me say many times, you must know
your numbers to grow your business and make a profit. When you’re strapped, you
make desperate decisions and poor choices just to keep afloat.
5. Should You Get Completely Stressed and
Out Of Control?
Stress is a good thing
to have. When you’re stressed, you wake up at night and make those valuable
lists that help your business and personal life become better. Stress helps you
multi-task and never be in control. Besides, if you get in control, you can’t
get enough things done in a day. So sweat the small things, take care of every
detail yourself, and worry about all those little things you don’t have control
over.
In business, only a
few things are worth stressing over. What are your top three priorities in your
company? I suggest the only things business owners need to stress about are
sales, revenue, and customers. When you have enough sales and customers, the
rest can sort itself out with good systems and people. How many more hours will
you dedicate to your top three priorities over the next year?
6. Should You Keep Doing What You’ve
Always Done!
When you learn new
ideas, you don’t have enough time to do all the things you want to. So not
learning new things is a great way to get by in life. Read less books and stop
trying to improve. Besides, too much learning can really wreck your head. I
suggest you watch more television as an alternative solution to your
predicament. People who don’t commit to written resolutions or goals, continue
doing things the same way. They get trapped in what I call the “un-comfortable”
zone. They know they want to break out of their situation by doing something
different, but don’t. They live with continuous dull pain, stress, and
discomfort rather than do something new, exciting, or different. What do you want, dull pain or positive
results?
7. Will You Win Or Lose In 2010?
If you could start
over, what would you do different? Why aren’t you doing it? Everyone needs time
to stop and think about their future. You need input, help, advice, wisdom and
ideas to decide what you need to do to go out and build a better business. George Hedley is holding a special “Win In 2010” Profit-Builder
Circle Academy
on January 28 & 29th in Costa Mesa, California.
He is offering a special one time FREE rate never
offered before to help construction business owners jump start their companies
and figure out what they need to do to take them to the next level based on the
reality of the economy.
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Where
do you need to add new business?
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What do
you need to stop doing?
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What do
you meet to eliminate?
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Where
are you stuck?
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What
decisions are you postponing?
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How should
you reorganize your staff and management team?
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How can
you implement your plans to make a profit & grow your business?
