The Business Chat - Where are you running to?

It’s that time of year again. Not the “i-can’t-believe-i-ate-the-whole-thing” time, but the Must Make an Important Resolution time. 

Skip it. 

Resolutions are very useful for making you feel guilty for about 9 days until you decide to abandon them. 

While I think you’re wasting time making resolutions I do think you should spend some time setting some goals for yourself. 

Imagine that you’re running a race. You line up at the start line, along with the 1,000 other runners. The gun goes off, and then everybody heads off in a different direction. Why? Because there was no finish line set. With no end in sight where do you run? Maybe you decide to run in circles. Maybe you’ll head left for a while and then zig zag for while. Maybe you’ll just stay in one place. Maybe you’ll run for 10 minutes, maybe someone else runs for 4 hours. 

In order to run a race you need a finish line. Someone has to decide where it is. 

In order to have a successful business, you need a definition of success. YOU have to decide what it is. After all, if you don’t know what you’re asking for, don’t be surprised when you don’t get it. 

For all of you who want to work on or start your “business” here’s a question. What does your business look like? 

Do you have a kiosk in a mall selling Made in a Third World country assembled jewelry? 

Do you have a brick and mortar store selling diamonds? 

Do you have your own website selling supplies? 

Do you have an Etsy store that sells one or two of your handmade items a month? 

These are all examples of jewelry businesses. And all might be called successful depending on your definition of success. 

They wouldn’t be my version of success for me. That’s not what I want. I suspect that what I want isn’t what you want either. Which is fine, because you and I are different, so naturally we want different things. The important thing is to know what you do want. 

Deciding what you want can be a little overwhelming. It’s a big question. Let’s make this a bit easier. 

When we meet again this time next year, where do you want your business to be? And what does it look like? 

Grab your handy notebook and write a letter to me dated December 31, 2014. Tell me what your business looks on this date. What would make you say, “I have a successful business!”

These are you goals. Your finish line. Now you know where you’re going for the next year. 

ps. for those of you who don’t think they have a business at all, or it’s too complicated to have a business, have you ever sold anything? even one pair of earrings? do you intend to sell anything (even one item)? then you my friend already have a business.