The best business books in the world can't completely prepare you for running your own enterprise.
There is no book for starting, growing and successfully running a business. Yes, there are business strategy books and self-help books and everything in between. But when it comes to running your own deal, the only book you really have is the one you write yourself. Every day.
As we’re navigating through these tough economic times, I am learning a lot. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes at expense of others. I got an e-mail last week from an agency in Austin that laid off 14 people. They listed their titles and offered them up for hire. I felt like I was looking at a menu and trying to decide whether I wanted a Senior Account Executive or a Traffic Manager. I appreciated that the e-mail was out there trying to help these folks get a job, but it was certainly unsettling.
I’ve also developed a sense of paranoia you could say. I want to know exactly where we are financially all of the time. I used to look at all of our company finances on a weekly and overall monthly basis. Now I want to see them more often. I’ve never been someone who likes surprises. Especially bad ones. And right now, none of us can afford surprises.
So I guess the point of my rambling this week is to stay close to the things that affect your business the most. Your people. Their productivity and happiness. Your expenses. Revenues. Margin. MARGIN! Because I have to believe that if we stay smart about all of these things, when the economy begins to peek its head out of this quicksand, we’ll all be on the right track.
(Image from BusinessPundit)
