Business Strategy

As a founder, your business will grow only as much as you can handle.

Grow more than that and your business will either shrink back to the size you can handle (if you are lucky) or implode (if you run out of money).

There are two ways to continue to grow the business:

• Accept that you must change and then grow your own abilities; or
• Step aside and let someone else grow the business.

Neither are easy.

It was true for […]

As people move out of survival and safety mode and up the Maslov pyramid, they generally start pursuing "happiness" as a goal.

I'll be happy when….

But is our obsession with happiness causing us to be unhappy? Is it even the right goal? Do happy business owners and employees perform better in the market?

Happiness Is Overrated

Happiness as a destination is the wrong way to look at it. 

If we never know unhappiness we would never do anything different or change.

Try […]

In business and life we are often faced with choices: the seemingly easy path and the hard road.

The Easy Path

There are times when the easy path is the right choice. No need to complicate life for things that don't really matter.

A lot the time though, the easy path only seems easier and often is only easier over the short-term.

Yet, most people will take the easy path anyways. Brush things under the rug. Don't deal with problems. Put things off.

The easy path is easier right now. That is all that matters. 

After-all, maybe the consequences will never materialize.

[…]

Business leaders must often go with their gut in making timely decisions.  

But that begs the questions:

• Why does trusting your gut work? 
• When does it not work?

Many small business owners lack the required knowledge, experience or information to trust their intuition effectively. At the same time they often "believe" their intuition is serving them well.

Intuition is largely driven by the intersection of your subconscious brain and your conscious thoughts.

Your brain stores vast amounts of information and experiences as well as the corresponding emotions, etc. that go with them.

When you need to make a decision quickly without enough conclusive information, your brain […]

Reflecting on 2012 I realized we tend to look back at the challenges and problems we faced and focus our forward momentum on "improving" things for the future.

It is easy to lose sight of the good parts. 

As we are climbing the mountains of our business (or personal) goals it is important to stop often and look back.  

Not just for the flaws, but what we did well or right. Life is bumpy […]