Jim Blasingame's Blog, page 19
January 19, 2015
Seven ways to cut yourself some SLACC in 2015
People make New Year’s resolutions all the time. But do you know anyone who actually kept one?
OK — one person, but he’s the same guy who reminded the teacher that she’d forgotten to give out the homework.
Knowing how difficult, not to mention annoying,resolutions can be, there’s a different way to kick off the new year in your small business. I call it Strategic Look At Critical Components, or SLACC, for short. So instead of getting all bound up in resolutions, just cut yourself some SLACC. He...
January 14, 2015
RESULTS: What do the signs read for your business in 2015?
The Question: Looking into 2015, what do the signs look like for your business?
28% - All signs point toward 2015 being a great growth year for us.
55% - We’re cautiously optimistic 2015 will be better than last year.
15% - We’re expecting no more business than last year.
2% - Right now, 2015 looks like a tough year for us.
Jim’s Comments:
As you may know, we’ve been polling small business owners about many topics for several years. At least four times a year we ask about the economy, either...
January 13, 2015
Train yourself every day for the future
Like sprinters, distance runners have to train plenty; but their event often seems as much a test of mind, spirit and will, as it is a demonstration of conditioning, strength and endurance.Small...
January 12, 2015
Beware of the maxim that can become a lie
The maxim is one of the most interesting of expressions because in its definition we find both truth and consequences.
Webster says a maxim is a “generally accepted truth.” But that makes it sound like we voted on it, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t the truth be beyond debate? Well, that’s why something is a maxim; it’s merely “accepted” as the truth, and therein lie the consequences.
In theworld of leadership, one of the best examples of a maxim is “It’s lonely at the top.”
But must it be?
Small business...
January 7, 2015
RESULTS: How do you like the new NCAA Division I rules?
The Question:
How do you like the new NCAA Division I football selection committee, playoff and Championship game?
48% - So far the new system is better than the old one.
0% - I prefer the old one.
26% - I’m withholding judgment for now.
26% - Who cares? I can’t believe you asked this question.
Jim’s Comments:
As you likely know by now, college football has a new, three game playoff system to determine top NCAA Division I team. Stakeholders from the NCAA and Division I schools decided that a...
January 6, 2015
Resolve to overcome your fears and achieve your dreams in the new year
One of the greatest sins is the unlived life.
That’s the title of my favorite section in one of my favorite books, Anam Cara, by my late friend and favorite Irishman, John O’Donohue.
John says that the more we postpone the dreams of our hearts the more we are in danger of an unlived life. “We should never allow our fears or the expectations of others to set the frontiers of our destiny.”
In that same theme, I also like this New Year poem by Lillian Gray.
New Year’s Thoughts
Let us walk softly, f...
January 5, 2015
The paradoxes of successful business growth
One of the greatest professional accomplishments is to start a business and grow it.
But unlike a species of plant or animal, a business is not genetically preordained as to how big it will get. For a small business, that decision is made by the owners with answers to these three questions:
1. Do I want my business to keep growing?
2. How big do I want my business to be?
3. How fast do I want to get to that size?
There are no right or wrong answers to these questions —it’s your business, you get t...
December 30, 2014
Believe in yourself first, success will follow
Photo by Melody Campbell via Flickr.com
As we continue the holiday season and move into the New Year, I encourage you to contemplate your capacity to have faith, and how faith manifests in your life. Not just religious faith, which is important to many of us, but faith in yourself and faith in others.
August Wilhelm Von Schlegel said, “In actual life, every great enterprise begins with and takes its first forward step in faith.” How many things have you accomplished in your life where, regardle...
December 29, 2014
Blasingame’s 2015 Crystal Ball predictions
Here are my predictions for 2015. My 14-year record is 73% accuracy.
Prediction: Geopolitics, geo-competition and the supply/demand dynamic for crude oil won’t find equilibrium anytime soon, causing prices to fluctuate, but average less than $70 per barrel.
Prediction: Buoyed by consumers buoyed by low gas prices and six years of recovery fatigue, the U.S. economy will grow, but global economic headwinds and currency influences on exports will result in U.S. annual GDP averaging near an unrema...
