It is six months since I uprooted my life in Ecuador and returned to the land of my youth, in the far northwest corner of the USA.  Since that day, March 13, 2020, my life, like yours I imagine, has been nothing like I expected it to be.  Within 24 hours of my return to the USA life was put on hold for everyone in my new community. Restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters, public restrooms, retail stores, beaches, even gatherings of more than a few people have all been closed, restricted, eliminated.

Now, six months later, little has changed.  These are hard times to consider starting a business.  The vacant storefronts I see as I walk down the street (masked and carefully distancing) are a dark cautionary tale.

Business can be risky. Businesses can fail, though no fault of our own.  So, those of us who carry the entrepreneurial gene; those of us who are always thinking of starting something, a service, a solution to a problem, a product that will make life better, what do we do now?

I don’t have an answer but, as summer weather fades into a damp winter, I am beginning to use my own coaching tools to consider the possibilities.

What are you doing?  Have you lost your business in these trying times?  If so, what will you do instead?

Let’s work together to find our way back to a life of service and profit.

Photo by Getúlio Moraes on Unsplash

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.     

Henri Bergson

Transitions. I am in one now.  The boxes are packed, the plane ticket is purchased. After nine year living as an expat in South Africa and Ecuador, I am on my way “home” to the USA.  When people ask why, I answer simply that “It is time”.  That answer encompasses an important life transition, the one from active, healthy vitality to that time described as “between 65 and death”.

I am not dead yet, or even very weary; I still want to do something.  The question is, what should that something be.

I recently read a memoir by Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air.  Kalanithi died of lung cancer in 2015 at the age of 36 just as he was completing 10 years of training as a neurosurgeon.  The question he confronts near the end of the book is: what he should do to make life meaningful in the unknown time he has left.

As a neurosurgeon Kalanithi has confronted this question on behalf of others: “Before operation on a patient’s brain, I realized, I must first understand his mind: his identity, his values, what make his life worth living, and what devastation makes it reasonably to let that life end.”

As his own diagnoses confronts him with the question of his own mortality, Kalanithi struggles to clarify what is most important to him.

As a healthy and strong, but no longer young woman, I too must confront what make life worth living now that I have completed several life goals including: living overseas, learning another language and publishing a book.

As I seek to set a new, inspiring goal, pragmatism tells me my days are numbered but, like Kalanithi, I don’t know that number.  Still I need to decide what is most important for me to do with the unknown time I have left.

I have some ideas and, once I land back in the country of my birth, I will explore those ideas using many of the tools in Vision to Decision: A Self-Coaching Guide to Starting A New Business. I will be using my own book to start another business. Though this time I may worry less about profit and more about service to my community.

What about you?  You who are still young, what is the work you are called to do with your small business?  Does that work make your life worth living?

Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash

Thanks to Marcus Lansky, for this guest post.  Marcus is the founder of  Abilitator.biz. Marcus specializes in helping people with disabilities start their own business.  You can reach Marcus at marcus.lansky@abilitator.biz

If you’ve owned a goods-based business for more than two minutes, you know that your success comes down to your sales. Simply put, selling products creates revenue, which is what keeps your business above water and thriving. However, a lot goes behind selling products, and inventory management is perhaps the most critical aspect of yielding consistent sales. 

When you drop the ball on inventory management, it can result in anything from misplaced orders to lost customers. That’s why it’s important to regularly assess your inventory processes and look for ways to improve them. To help your small business flourish, we’ve put together a list of some of the most common inventory management mistakes and how to avoid them.

Not Embracing a Barcode System

One of the most common inventory management mishaps for small business owners is the failure to adopt an automated inventory management system. An automated barcode system can take your inventory management and efficiency to new heights in almost every regard. No matter how proficient they are at their jobs, humans make errors. 

A barcode system will eliminate such errors made in manual data entry, paper-oriented systems, and other human-based tasks. Also, it will make documenting and reporting much more efficient and provide accurate records of all transactions related to your inventory.

Whether you run a produce market or clothing boutique, a quality inventory management system will save you time and money and help you to avoid a number of inventory-related issues. For example, it will help you to minimize dead stock, which refers to items that cannot be sold because they are out of season, worn out, or rendered irrelevant. 

It will also help you to reduce the number of items that expire in the stockroom, such as food or cosmetics. Moreover, an automated inventory management system will help you to forecast future purchases, which can help protect you from having too much back stock and paying unnecessary storage expenses as a result.

Separating Cash Flow from Inventory 

Another mistake that many small business owners often make is keeping the areas of cash flow and inventory management separate. The reality is that the more efficient your inventory management is, the better your cash flow is likely to be. This is because an inventory management system will show you exactly which products you currently have and which ones you need to sell. Also, it will provide you with real-time reports on the types of items you need to restock, what sort of new items to try, and so on. These factors can help you to strategize so that you can optimize your business’s cash flow. 

Using Inadequate Performance Measuring  

Reviewing and analyzing how many of each product you have ordered in the past and which products have sold is paramount to managing your inventory effectively. Understanding such performance, as well as considering market demand, helps you to determine what kind of products to purchase in the future. Many small companies often underestimate the importance of this step and end up making poor decisions when it comes to forecasting. Don’t make this mistake; take your time evaluating inventory levels, customer demand, fill rates, and other essential factors. Being proactive rather than reactive is the only way you will be able to keep up with the rapidly changing marketplace today. 

Inventory management is intimately connected to sales and revenue, and you must do it efficiently to succeed. If you haven’t already, invest in an automated barcode system to streamline processes and minimize errors. Also, keep in mind the relationship between cash flow and inventory management, and be proactive in your performance measuring. You might be surprised by how these tips can help your company flourish. 

Photo by Ashim D’Silva on Unsplash

Are You Ready?

I am.  I’ve reviewed my accomplishment since January 2019. In the past year I have:

• Improved my Spanish
• Begun the process of moving back to the USA after seven years as an expat
• Published my book in hard copy and digital
• Completed another year of regular blog posts
• Participated in four home exchange adventures

What is in Store for 2020?

In the new decade I plan to change my marketing strategies. I appreciate everyone who has consistently followed my small business musings but in the next year I plan to discontinue my newsletter in favor of social media.

Early in the new year, I will move back to the USA to be nearer my family.  I am looking forward to the possibilities available to me in a culture where I know the system and speak the language with fluency.  In 2020 I will be sharing more about my new business endeavors.

Meanwhile, I will continue working as the Director of Interactive Content for Transition Concierge International (TCI) a social and educational community for aspiring expats and those who have already made the move.

As you will know if you’ve read my book, these new visions for 2020 still need to be fleshed out with objectives and strategies and an action plan.  But the big picture, the vision is taking shape.

What are your plans for 2020?  Have you revisited the vision exercises in my book and started thinking about the opportunities the new year, in fact the new decade, offers?  Tell me about your plans in the comments.

As for me, I will continue to blog but not as often.  You can follow me on Facebook or on LinkedIn.  And, if you are curious about living and working overseas, you can find me at Transition Concierge International

Photo by Crazy nana on Unsplash

In the northern hemisphere, the end of the year is a time of cold and darkness, combined with the pressures of the “holiday season”; a time widely held to be stressful.

In the southern hemisphere it is a time of beaches, holidays, family togetherness; obligations that may distract from the goals and deadlines marked by the year’s end.

Feeling the Stress?

Here are some tips, paraphrased from my Tai Chi instructor, to help with managing any stress you may be feeling.

1. Do something today that your future self will thank you for. (Hint: Buy my book and do the work.)
2. Think about what is most important to you (Use the exercised in my book.)
3. Stick to a daily schedule. (Are you still thinking like a CEO with daily staff meetings?)
4. Nurture your body mind and spirit. (Did you put your big rocks in first?)
5. Take a walk. (You will be more creative when you take a break.)
6. Do less not more. (Review your goals)
7. Don’t sweat the small stuff. (Focus on your priorities)
8. Try something new (If what you have always done isn’t working…)
9. Slow down (If you are feeling overwhelmed, let go of something)
10. Be grateful.

Try any, or all, of these tricks and let me know how they worked for you.

Photo by Thao Le Hoang on Unsplash

What is a part of the season is Black Friday.  I doubt anyone here, Ecuadorian or American, can explain the origins of this, now traditional, day of shopping referred to as Black Friday.

My research tells me that the name Black Friday originated in the 1950’s in Philadelphia. In those days, the downtown area would be overrun with people taking advantage of the long weekend to shop ahead of the Christmas rush. These people would crowd the streets admiring the decorations and anticipating the important Army/Navy game scheduled for the Saturday.  In the beginning, the term “black” was not a positive one. Instead of referring to the day retailers made their yearly profit, i.e. going into the black instead of the red, (the explanation I was taught).  The term was originally coined by the police to describe “the mayhem surrounding the congestion of pedestrians and auto traffic in downtown Philadelphia.”

From this negative image, Black Friday was cleverly rebranded, to become a celebration of sales and consumerism. Today, seventy years on, shoppers tripping over each other to snag a deal on a television is a dubious tradition.  According to PC magazine, 74 percent of consumers plan to shop during the American Thanksgiving weekend.

But I am not in America, I am in Latin America and, as I walk the streets of my current hometown. I see Black Friday prices for everything from refrigerators to underwear.  Interestingly, this insistent call to buy is not even confined to the Friday after the holiday, the “sales” began a week in advance.

Does your business take advantage of this Friday shopping frenzy?  Do you find it works for you?  Are your sales significantly higher?  I would like to know how you plan to maximize the retail opportunity of Black Friday.

Putting aside my skepticism at a Hollywood producer soliciting such brutal and humble honesty from so many apparently successful people at a class reunion, I was interested in his promise to help others know their life purpose in just 5 minutes.

• Who you are?
• What you do?
• Who you do it for?
• What they want and need?
• How they are changed as a result?

These are the five questions that, when answered quickly, will reveal your life’s purpose, says Leipzig.

How the spontaneous answers to these questions will reverse one’s disappointment, like the disappointment of his Yale classmates, into satisfaction, he does not say.

Take Time to Think

We can all answer these questions quickly, thoughtlessly, based on our current reality.  But to answer these same questions with aspiration, with an acknowledgement of personal, deeply held values, and, perhaps, an admission of one’s secret but burning desires and a recognition of one’s place in the kaleidoscope of life, requires more than five minutes. It requires a willingness to go deep, to know oneself and to embrace whatever truths one finds there.

Your life is not a Hollywood story. It is unique and precious, and it is your story.  Do yourself the honor of thinking hard about Leipzig’s questions.  I suggest you follow the process in my book.  Leipzig’s questions, answered in five minutes, will take you around in a circle and you will end up exactly where you started.  The same questions, addressed in a coaching process, will reveal unexpected new possibilities.  Isn’t that worth a few more minutes of your time?

Photo by Tachina Lee on Unsplash

If you’ve been building your business as recommended in my book Vision to Decision:  A Self-Coaching Guide to Starting a New Business, you will be well prepared to:

Review your Simple Business Plan

• What were your objectives for 2019?
• What were the milestones?
• Which objectives remain to be accomplished?
• Have you kept accurate data for assessing your progress?
• What does the data tell you about your accomplishments for 2019?

Review the Revenue Model you created at the start of the year.

• Were your sales goals challenging but realistic?
• Did you achieve your goals? If not, why not?
• Review your projected business expenses?
• How accurate were your estimates?
• Based on the data, what changes do you need to make now?

It is easy to get caught up in the day to day busyness of running a business. As the year winds down,you will soon be busy with tax preparations, holiday parties, and, the demands on your business of the holiday shopping season.  Now before the end of the year rush begins, take time to assess. It will put you in a good place for the beginning of the new decade.

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Until you know what you want, what you can imagine, and what you are willing to work for, you have no good reason to get into action.

Stop now, before the rush of the end of the year begins; before the holiday season with all its cultural expectations and before the season’s weather has you either playing at the beach or shoveling the driveway.

Do it now.  Revisit your vision for 2019 and tweak it.

If your vision was a 3, 5 or 10 year plan, you are now one year closer.

• What have you accomplished this year?
• Have circumstances changed?
• What didn’t work?
• Has your vision changed?
• What do you need to do differently in 2020?

I have given you all the tools you need to do a powerful analysis of your values, your mission, your strategies and your goals. If you have the book, Vision to Decision: A Self-Coaching Guide to Starting a New Business, revisit the exercises and update your vision.  If you haven’t yet begun to coach yourself to a profitable business and a fabulous life, there is a new decade ahead.  Just do it!

Photo by Haley Lawrence on Unsplash

Read it to the end. You will find important insights from neuroscience. When you better understand how your brain is controlling your world view, you will have the tools you need to change.

https://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe