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Business Survival Guide : 8 practices of a long term contractor
Originally posted on FreelanceSwitch According to the Webster Dictionary, a practice is: – to follow or observe habitually or customarily – to exercise or pursue as a profession, art, or occupation – to perform or do repeatedly in order to acquire skill or proficiency None of the practices below are technical for one simple reason – technically, you should already be good at what you do. After all, you are selling your services as an … Continue reading
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You Need a Mentor
There is only one way you cross a mine field. Find someone with bigger feet than you who has successfully crossed it in the past and carefully follow in their footsteps. In the minefield that is small business, not enough people take the time to find a mentor. Many of those who do, often pick the wrong one. Your long term odds go way up if you can find someone with the success you are … Continue reading
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Growing Pains: Managing the Explosion
July was an intense month. I was gone to Spain on business for 2 weeks (pictures soon). While I was gone, Peter was holding down the fort with a lot of new work, new clients and new team members. Some great successes and some unpleasant lessons. The question at hand: how to manage quick growth? It’s a bit of a balancing act. Our recent conclusion (not an answer because we don’t actually know yet): you … Continue reading
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Building Loyalty through Success: Talent Vs. Skill
I was given some very precious advice from a billionaire the final time we spoke. “Building a business is incredibly simple with the right people. Building a business with the wrong people is the hardest thing in the world.” In “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t”, Jim Collins explains that the companies he studied spent very little time motivating their people once they had the right people on the … Continue reading
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Managing People & Managing Cost: A Question of Priorities
We learned two really good lessons this week. Why do good lessons always cost thousand of dollars? Lesson #1: Manage The Right People Our most expensive contractor costs us a lot of money and he is totally worth it. Problem was, Peter & I spent so much time running around managing our Jr’s and making sure they knew what they were doing, we didn’t pay him or his project enough attention. In retrospection, we innately … Continue reading
