There are many ideas herein to think about as a small business owner: how we treat our employees, the culture in our companies, etc., as well as life itself.  It lasts 16 minutes, but I guarantee it will be time well spent.  You may want to forward it or, better, show it personally to your associates, employees, families and friends so you can talk about the issues it brings up.

Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

Dharmesh Shah’s blog is a good read.  Enjoy!

1. The New Economy is not as dependent on credit leverage as before – meaning that individuals and businesses will begin to operate more from cash
2. As a result, the banking industry will go through many changes, adjustments and even more crashes before the dust settles. Its reliance on offering creative loans will change.  It will need to find more profit in treasury services and traditional loans.
3. Individuals’ and families’ lifestyles will change – necessarily becoming more frugal.  This will create less “consumer spending.”  The wise individual and family will cut spending by at least 33%
4. Consequently, businesses serving other businesses will also be cut back
5. Government spending will certainly have to decrease – President Obama’s recent freeze on federal salaries is just the first step
6. Taxes will rise
7. Joblessness will remain high for a pretty long period
8. The rate of giving to charities will decrease

The list goes on.  So – if you are planning for your small business, or contemplating starting a new one, consider all of these issues.  Also, consider reading my special report, Ten Essentials For Starting or Growing A Business In The New Economy.  CLICK HERE to get it now.

Each one of these is a powerful “KPI” for any small business. Keep an eye out in the coming days for posts on direct applications of these 12 Elements to small business.  In the meantime, you can see more about the Flawless Living system at: www.Flawless-Living.com.

Mike Jay, a Master Business Coach and the founder of Flawless, offered penetrating insights into the state of the economy as we enter the next decade.  Not very encouraging!  We need to scaffold ourselves, he stated, but Peering, Sharing, Collaborating, Reciprocating and Globalizing if we are to succeed.  Learn more about his presentation but CLICKING HERE.

Let us know what you are thinking in a comment, below.

Marc really got got him on a roll and even Mike was surprised at some of the things he said! Hear a short 5 minute recorded clip, CLICK HERE http://calls.myflawlessliving.com/.

Final Teleconference with Mike for 2010:
This Wednesday, November 10th from 8:30-9:30 EST, Mike will be in the hot seat again with my good friend Olivia Par-Rudd, internationally acclaimed author of “Lead From The Future.”Olivia and Mike will explore “Creating a Values-Driven Business In The New Economy With Deeper Life Satisfaction.”

Make sure you mark your calendar and bring your questions. There is a link on the audio page to move over to the calls page and get the call-in information.  Mike will be holding a Q&A session at the end of the call. If you prefer, you may e-mail your questions for him to flawlessliving@gmail.com.

Here’s some of what you’ll get from the call:

–> Attain deeper levels of personal happiness by understanding why and how you have
not attained the levels you may still yearn for
–> Increase your income by identifying your passion points and learning how to
convert them into passive revenue streams
–> Gain unique insights into the global economy and what it means to your life,
and those of your loved ones, on a local level
–> Prepare for the coming era of extreme socio-political uncertainty by becoming part of a global community
based in the principles of sharing, peering, collaborationand reciprocity – a structure that is designed to
scaffold you and help you move forward in the “new normal.”

There is no charge for the teleconference.  CLICK HERE to register for the call.

Well, that’s sort of like deciding you want to go on vacation and then getting in your car and driving.  The odds are when you stop driving you won’t have a clue where you are.  You also won’t know what to pack to enjoy the vacation.

To be most effective, we should set both goals and objectives.  Goals are a method of deciding where you want to put your energies and resources.  Setting goals focuses yourself.  Think of a goal as a destination.  Once you’ve determined the destination you’ll need a road map and directions.  We set objectives as the road map.  Goals are more general and set the general direction.  Objectives are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timed (SMART). When you’ve achieved an objective you’ve reached a milestone on the way to your destination.

An easy way to set goals is to think about where you want to be, or where you want your company to be in one year.  Write a paragraph of that description.  If you prefer you can also use bullet points.

Here’s a business example:

Goal: by Dec. 31, 2008, our company will have increased our revenue by $1M for the year.

Objectives:
* Mail 2,000 direct mail pieces each quarter
* Do follow up phone calls to that list
* Set at least 200 appointments, which will lead to at least 50 proposals, which will lead to 10 new contracts of $100,000 each

Here’s an example that’s not business related.  Goal: by the end of 2008 I will be thinner and healthier.  Objectives:
* lower your cholesterol by 10 points
* stop smoking, and lose 25 pounds.
* lose 5 pounds per month by cutting out all sweets from your diet
* walk for 30 minutes each day

You can see that the goals are more general and that each objective is SMART.  This is how we can be sure that we have actually achieved the objective.  Without using the SMART system, we have no way of knowing if we are achieving the objectives or not.  This is where many individuals and businesses fail, and give up on goal setting.  The conclusion becomes, “Goal setting didn’t work…”

However, all performance experts agree – setting clear goals and breaking them down into SMART objective does work.  If you further break down each objective and schedule those steps into your daily life, then you will see unmatched results.

If you have in your objectives to make 10 phone calls a day to prospects, then put an hour in your calendar to do it.  Make appointments with yourself!  If you have 30 minutes of exercise 3 times per week in your plan, put the dates and times into your calendar.

Goals can help you get where you want to be in your life and in your business.   Try it, you’ll LOVE IT!