Think Big or Go home. Although a big practice I largely played in college candy land, this principle addresses the need to stay out until 2:00 a.m. – and after having a baby, I sure do not miss being up at 2:00 a.m. – here is a good must-do. I cannot tell you how many clients and potential clients limit themselves and do not look at big picture items. I have lost track of how many people have told me that they are a local company when they can quite easily be national. Um … Hello … Internet?? Yes, quite the amazing invention. If you have a website and your product/service can be sold nationally, why would you want to limit yourself as local? You might as well call it a day and purchase your own lunch truck. Go big or go home – especiallyin this market, you should do yourself a favor and cast the net as wide as possible.
Don’t bore yourself unnecessarily. One thing I have learned when running the show and doing what I love, there are certain things that I grow more and more intolerant of doing … like anything that bores me. Here is a picture of my end of the month day: 1. I spend a better portion of the morning moaning and groaning about doing expenses and invoicing blah, blah, blah (see, I am even boring myself writing about this.) This whole spectacle is followed by playing on ITunes and then dancing around to the favorite ones I downloaded (unfortunately, not kidding here either.) Still not wanting to do the admin to-do items, I next play on Social Media for at least an hour complaining again (see Facebook every month end … true info.) Then finally, succumbing to the boredom and completing the task. What a waste of time, right? The bottom line is that I realize that my time is too valuable to be spent on this. Meaning … if I hire someone, I can do more billable work? Make more money? Good plan. If you are boring yourself … just think about it … it is all I ask.
Strategic partners … sink or swim. The bottom line here is to do your research first. Do not partner with someone until they have a proven track record and you know the ins and outs of their company. At M Communications, we take this very seriously. When we partner with someone, we are 100 percent sure of all expectations and quality of product. Unfortunately, 2L and I have both made the mistake once (yes … it only takes one time) to partner with someone and watch them completely drop the ball because their idea of product delivery is 6 months instead of 4 – 6 weeks. Make smart decisions, do homework, and ask questions. And, don’t make decisions in “fire-drill” mode. The time you take at the beginning can mean not the catch-up game at the end. Furthermore, if someone wants to be your strategic partner and is really a big time suck that all they want from you is business with nothing in return. Here is a thought … not a partner … partner meaning a two-way street.
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