At the end of a year It’s customary in business to look back and look forward and assess critically how you did according to your business plan and make appropriate changes for the next year.
For our blog series We can look at our businesses to see How close to right we are in Response to the challenges of our business lives. My aim in this series has been to help every reader/listener to develop as an entrepreneur
Jan: Was about our ATTITUDE to a new year and addressing new challenges
Feb: Was STRATTITUDE Asking us to look at the strategy we employ to achieve our goals in business
March: Saw FORTITUDE and that called forth all the determination resilience and Grit we have. It’s part of what makes an entrepreneur
April and May brought LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. Latitude spoke of position, reach and the rewards which leads us to Longitude and the limited amount of time we have in order to achieve the Latitude. So manage it well and don’t waste any of the 28,835 days you get.
June: it was about the ALTITUDE you could reach with your goals and how we need to recognise our achievements
July: was a double whamee APTITUDE and INEPTITUDE. Encouraging us to play to our strengths and buy in other expertise as an add on to our value proposition
August: gave us a Vicissitudes the ups and downs of business and finding the resources both personal and business wise to deal with it
September: had us thinking about Rectitude – Right and wrong. Really I asked WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TO OTHERS In Business and in life How moral were our business dealings this year.
October: Was Verismilitude Asking us about how we appear and seek to be seen by the people we do business with and do we have the right communication skills
November: Was double whamee number 2. It asked how do we handle the Magnitude of the multitude of roles we have to fulfil as business people
This month’s word is appropriate to the season we are entering. Gratitude. Ask yourself For what am I grateful in business this year and more important to Whom? And how do I intend to express that gratitude.
You can buy tax free gifts for employees or valued associates of up to €500 without a tax liability for them from sites like all gifts. That’s a little plug for Gary Purcell who does a great job of making gratitude easy.
Often we go to sports events and hold a minutes silence for someone who is dead. In my opinion that type of appreciation is just a little bit late. Wouldn’t we be better to say thanks to our suppliers, customers, colleagues and staff while we can? What has happened in your business this year for which you are grateful? We always find ourselves focused on fixing the problems – as we should - but just for a minute ask yourself what good news was there? How could I cause that to be repeated in 2018? Where did I experience something good that I could tell people? In this season of goodwill what about some good news?