Time Marches On

Another year passes by in your life in the juvenile industry. Interesting that the transition to a new year seems to be a trigger for getting out from amongst the “trees” of day to day business detail and going up to 40,000 feet to survey the whole “forest”. Moving to a new year is also always a reminder of how quickly time passes. What a great opportunity to stop the world and assess whether you are spending your precious time on the things that will truly enrich your life and create a life history with few if any regrets.

Here’s an exercise that I think can get you off to a good start in the new year. Get a pad of paper and pen or pencil and write down your answers to these twenty questions. Most likely your response to each question will influence the answers to the later questions. So please answer the questions in sequence. When you’ve finished, you just may feel more in control of your destiny.

Looking Back to Last Year 

1.       Do you feel you maintained a healthy balance between your personal and business life? If not, what prevented that?

2.      What were your most satisfying personal accomplishments?

3.      What were your most satisfying business accomplishments?

4.      How do you feel about last year on the whole (happy, satisfied, frustrated, stressed out, bored, etc.)?

5.       What were the primary contributors to your overall feeling?

6.      What percent of the time last year did you truly enjoy running your business?

7.       Are there decisions or choices you wish you made last year but didn’t?

8.      Do you feel you’re a better leader/manager now versus at the beginning of the year?

9.      Were you able to stay aware of “current reality” inside and outside your company during the year or were you often blind-sided?

10.   Do you feel that your company’s business model[1] and its components have evolved in a positive way during the year?

a.       Has your competitive advantage increased?

b.      Is your culture clear and enforced when necessary?

c.       Are you in the right distribution channels? Communication to customer channels?

d.      Are your critical processes (e.g. business model improvement, product development, production, sales, etc.) well-designed, documented (even if just in checklist form), and followed?

e.       Do you have the right people? The right facilities?

f.        Are you well-financed and making an adequate profit?

Entering the New Year

1.       Are you going into the new year with a positive, can-do attitude? Is your staff?

2.      Do you have a clear picture of what your role as leader/manager should be this year (e.g. coach on the sidelines, player-manager, teacher, Walton-esque evangelist)?

3.      Does your staff share your vision for what your company will look like at the end of the year?

4.      Are you psychologically ready to make the tough decisions?

5.       Are you willing to test new ideas and directions knowing that many will not meet expectations? Is your staff willing?

6.      Are there critical business model deficiencies that need to be fixed now?

7.       Do you have mechanisms in place to give you the visibility you need to know how well your business model components are working all the time?

8.      Are there things (products, processes, programs, etc.) that need to be eliminated to provide resources for what’s important?

9.      What are the top three things that you absolutely, positively, have to get done by the end of the year no matter what?

10.   Are you so excited about what this year can bring that you can’t wait to get started?

I hope answering these questions caused you to think about your life and your business from a new perspective. Please let me know if it did. As always, JPMA's CEO Mentor Program stands ready to help you when you need it. A happy, healthy, less stressful, and prosperous New Year to all!

[1] Your company’s entire system for providing value to your customers while making a profit