FailingCompany - Back to the Basics

It's hard to believe that spring is here. Time seems to fly by faster and faster each year. Spring is a time that's full of energy. The grass starts to grow, trees develop leaves and the flowers bloom. Homeowners get busy with yard work to make sure their lawns look perfect for the season. People break out the bikes or convertibles to ride in the open air. Kids start playing outside again. In general, spring is a time of revival.

We all need a time of revival in our lives. Whether it's a revival in our personal lives or in our businesses, it's good to have a time that energizes and pushes us to grow just as spring pushes the flowers to bloom. Spring can mark that revival for us too. There is already a change of energy in the air and, if you live in a colder climate, a sense of optimism that accompanies the warmer weather. It can be a powerful symbol.

How can you use the natual energy of spring to recharge yourself and take some ground on your goals? If you love the fresh air, then open the windows and invite the outside in. Enjoy the sunlight and the breeze blowing through the windows while you sip your coffee or tea and just focus. For me, that's the perfect way to get lost in my work. I feel so accomplished when I knock something out because I was in the zone.

It's really the perfect time of the year to plan to tackle big goals, too. If you follow my advice, then you spent January building your strategic plan and laying out your goals for the year. February was probably spent getting organized and starting work on the top priority goals. March, and more specifically early spring, is the time to leverage the natural energy and optimism and take serious ground on those top goals. It will set you up for a successful year for sure!!

To some, this may sound a little gimmicky or hokey and that's ok. Maybe you don't need the extra motivation. If you're like me, however, you need every tool available to keep moving forward towards your goals. Motivation doesn't always come natural for me and tricks like this, no matter how hokey they seem, are just what I need to stick with it.

If you're looking for a little extra motivation, then maybe you should give this spring revival thing a try. You can plan to perform significant work on your goals each spring to take advantage of the natual positivity that's already in the air. Maybe it'll be just the thing to set you up for a successful year!

Are you deep into your goals right now and ready to partner with some experts to really knock them out of the park? Maybe you're just now coming out of winter hibernation and are now ready to get some help setting your annual goals? Check out FailingCompany.com to find the help that you need. Go sign up for an account or log in to your existing account and start working with someone today.

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We held our St. Patrick's parade this past Saturday. This parade is a fun time for the community and draws over 100k people when the weather is nice. After a 2-year break due to COVID everyone was excited for The Return of St. Patrick, which was our parade theme.

Sadly, the weather didn't quite cooperate with us. Friday night brought with it a rapid decrease in temps and snow showers. This was really discouraging to many. Saturday temps hovered in the mid-to-high 20s but felt more like the teens or single digits with the wind chill. Interestingly, however, the snow didn't stick to the roads or sidewalks, only the grass. That meant that the parade was still a go!

Three O'clock PM EST hit, and we stepped out of our staging area onto the parade route. As we traveled down the parade route, it because obvious that the crowd was way down this year. Instead of 100K+ participants, the estimate this year was in the low thousands. Those that were there were diehard fans and made the most of the situation and had a wonderful time!

Like everything in life, you can find a lesson if you look for one. This year's parade didn't disappoint. The parade draws 100K+ people when the weather is nice. Another way to put it is that conditions are optimal. Throw in some challenging times, such as snow or very cold temperatures and the vast majority of those people quit. They stay home. Only those with true dedication and persistence show up. This is very much like business!

When economic times are good and the demand for specific goods or services are high, then we see a spike in new businesses. Everyone wants to start a business and make a quick buck. Nothing wrong with that, but times aren't always good. The world has a way of testing all of us. The business world is no different. The optimal conditions will eventually fade either through economic downturn, market oversaturation, technical obsolesce or shifting consumer demand. Then what?

The parade highlighted those that were truly dedicated. Those that were willing to brave frigid temperatures to achieve their goal of watching the parade and celebrating in the Irish pubs afterward. Those people were rewarded with better views of the parade than in years past, more room to spread out along the parade route and better seating at the pubs.

The business world operates with the same rules as our parade. Times will inevitably turn challenging, and this will thin out the vast majority of fair-weather business owners. Those that are truly dedicated will reap the rewards. The winners will be the ones that have prepared for sub-optimal conditions and are ready to weather the storm. They will be the ones that adapt, change their business model and capture the majority of the market that is now fair game after their fair-weather competitors bailed so quickly.

What does it take to be one of the few who come out on top? It obviously required 100% dedication to your goals. If you're lukewarm to your goals, you'll never achieve them. You must be on fire for your goals! You also need to be annoyingly persistent. Some may even call you hardheaded or crazy. Develop a mindset that you'll achieve your goals in spite of any obstacle in your path. Get tunnel vision and become laser focused!

I think there is one more key ingredient, and that's meticulous planning. You obviously must develop a plan to achieve your goal and then stick to the plan. I've written about that before. You must also plan for challenges and how to overcome them. Those that came to the Parade planned ahead by monitoring the weather, wearing multiple layers of clothes and bringing heavy coats. They prepared for the cold before they were left out in the cold! You must prepare for the bad times before the bad times hit.

Now is the time to look at the market conditions and industry forecasts. Evaluate the likely scenarios that may play out in your industry and build a response plan now. Then, if that scenario plays out, you simply need to execute your plan. This is similar to business continuity and disaster recovery planning that just about every major company does. They build a plan to keep the doors open and the lights on if something catastrophic occurs. You don't have to be a major company to do this. In fact, if you don't do this, you may as well consider yourself a fair-weather business owner. You'll likely be shutting down operations when times get tough. You're better than that!!

Are you dealing with sub-optimal conditions right now and need help executing on your plan? Maybe you're just now ready to start your rainy-day planning? Check out FailingCompany.com to find the help that you need. Go sign up for an account or log in to your existing account and start working with someone today.

#FailingCompany.com #SaveMyFailingCompany #PlanForTheWorst #FairWeatherBusiness #FindTheLesson #SaveMyBusiness #GetBusinessHelp

Happy early St. Patrick's Day! Today is our annual St. Patrick's Day parade, which is always held the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. I'm a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) and we put on the parade every year for our city. We've had a 2-year break due to the pandemic, so it's exciting to see it happen again!! The parade will draw around 100,000 people to just over a one mile stretch of road containing some of the most popular Irish pubs in the city. Quite a sight to see!

Besides being excited about something near and dear to my heart, the parade has some practical lessons to teach us. No, not about Irish culture. Most of the parade floats are cliche at best. And no, the national symbol of Ireland is NOT the shamrock. It's the harp! So, what types of lessons can we learn?

The parade takes months to plan. That time is filled with setting prices for parade participants, vetting out those participants, securing parade sponsors, negotiating with the city on things like road closures & police presence, securing licenses to sell alcohol plus endless other logistical items. It takes a strong team to pull the parade off. Not to mention, it's a non-profit event, so the city doesn't have a parade if we don't raise the money. It's a stressful time for the planners and the week leading up to the parade is affectionately called the Irish Hell Week. Haha!

The morning of parade day is just as chaotic as the weeks leading up to the event. Lots of small details to work out to ensure a memorable experience is had by all the participants. Finally, the time is here. The parade steps off like clockwork at 3 PM to a team of bag pipers and mounted police! The crowd goes wild and really enjoy themselves. In just a few hours it's all over! Now it's one for the history books.

So, what's the lesson already? There are many, but two really come to mind. The first is that people will judge you by that short amount of time that you were in the spotlight. In our case, we're judged by how well the parade went in those few hours. We'll even be judged for the weather!! Perhaps I should have been a weatherman?? Nobody cares about the months that you toiled over every small detail to make the event great! In the end, it all comes down to execution. Did we execute our plan perfectly? That's all anyone will remember. That's how you'll be judged!

Many people stress over every detail of a plan and fail to execute or execute with lackluster performance. They believe that there is merit in all of the effort that they put into the plan. Don't confuse planning with execution. Execution is all that matters. All the time planning is absolute necessary, but ultimately, it's a sunk cost if you fail to execute. Get as efficient as you can at planning and never slack off during execution. That's the make-or-break point for success! That's what the world will remember about you!!

The second point is that not everyone on your team will have their chance in the spotlight. You MUST take care of them. In our case, we have an entire team of volunteers to help coordinate things on parade day and a ton of police and EMTs along the parade route at the ready to respond if anything goes badly. These people are putting in the work, but don't get the benefit of marching down the parade route in front of 100k people. They quietly work behinds the scenes to make those in spotlight look like a success.

Every major initiative is similar. There are a few faces in the forefront that get all of the public recognition (or criticism) and a team of people behind the scenes pushing them along. Think about that team of people behind the scenes that work tirelessly to make you a success? Even if you're a single person business, you'll find family and friends cheering you on. If you succeed, then you become wealthy. They don't. They simply care enough to do it anyway. Make it a regular event to recognize and honor them. Let them know how important they are to you!

Looking to build out that behind the scenes team to help you move forward? Maybe you're looking for that partner to be in the spotlight with you? Check out FailingCompany.com to find the help that you need. Go sign up for an account or log in to your existing account and start working with someone today.

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Last week I talked about facing really tough challenges and leveling up to be ready for bigger and better things. What do you do when the challenge is never going to end? What about those times when you feel in your gut that something isn't right? Buckle up because this is going to feel a bit like a rant!!

It's very important that you stick it out during your trials, but it's just as important to know when something isn't right for you. Your environment is absolutely critical to your success. You can be a strong performer, get put in a caustic environment and you'll become completely stifled. You'll eventually consider giving up because you don't see the purpose on going on.

A caustic environment can suffocate you. It's totally different that a pushing through huge challenge. A huge challenge is temporary and will force you to grow and become better. A caustic environment usually isn't temporary. It will remain bad for many years. There's also nothing in that environment that will benefit you. The best thing that you can do is get out of it!! Think about it like one of those escape rooms.

Sometimes you can't leave a bad environment immediately. In that case, you'll need to learn to survive and protect yourself in that environment. Study everyone in that environment closely to learn who is working to gain power, who is out to cause you harm and who may be a good ally. Once you find your allies, be careful to only tell them the minimum necessary in every conversation. Support each other but avoid sharing too much. This gives you an outlet to deal with the frustration that you're likely feeling while allowing you to keep some control over the situation.

It's safe to say that you simply want to avoid those that are out to cause you harm whenever possible. What about those trying to gain power? Your best bet is to help them succeed. It's tough to see others succeed when you aren't, so keep reminding yourself that helping them get what they need is simply part of your strategy. You're a long-term player...not an immediate gratification type of person!

Helping the power hungry succeed makes you valuable to them. People tend to watch out for those that they deem valuable, especially if you help them feel powerful. This can afford you some protection from those who want to harm you, and you'll be glad to have that!! Yes, surviving in a caustic environment requires a lot of strategy and some mind games!! It's exhausting and that's why you want to get out fast.

It's important to make a plan to get out of a caustic environment as quickly as possible. Making the plan and then executing on the plan should be your top priority. This isn't the time to let pride or stubbornness get in the way. There also isn't time for procrastination. Remember that there's nothing wrong with getting out of a bad situation when it's simply not going to benefit you. It's not quitting. Those that thrive in that crazy environment will most definitely try everything they can to get you to stay. It's because you're a benefit to them!! You must stay strong, find the emergency exit and never look back!!

Need some help getting out of a bad environment? Maybe you finally dug out and need some help getting back on track? Check out FailingCompany.com to find the help that you need. Go sign up for an account or log in to your existing account and start working with someone today.

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