A lesson learnt about the power of reflection because let’s face it, 2020 may have been ‘manure’ but there are mushrooms for the picking.
Many of you know me through The Common, which was one venture on my entrepreneurial journey – A passion of mine where our purpose was to inspire, champion and support business execs and entrepreneurial souls.
Deciding to close it down was a decision I didn’t take lightly but having the experience of many years of running businesses has taught me that making hard decisions needs to be done, because doing nothing is not an option if you want to move forward.
You’ve no doubt had milestones in your career where you’ve lost sleep coming to the right decision, knowing who the decision affects and coming to terms with what may seem at the time to be a failure.
2020 has for many been such a year, tough decisions with much at stake. At this point and knowing 2021 will have its own set of challenges, so what ‘mushrooms’ have popped through the manure (shit!) that has been 2020?
- What would you have done differently?
- What have you accomplished?
- What lessons will impact your decision-making next year?
Back to The Common, even when there is a seeming failure, there is always a lot to be learnt and our successes should be acknowledged and celebrated too.For this reason, I am sharing my accomplishments and key lessons with you.
In taking a clarity break and sitting down with a pen and paper we can be objective, gain perspective and learn. Then we are in the best possible position for 2021, whether it’s personal or professional decisions on the road ahead.
The Common: Key Accomplishments
- Employed 8 people, who didn’t have jobs before The Common
- Helped 15 interns to get their degrees & gave them a start in their finance and marketing careers
- Held 60 educational events for business owners
- Coached over 75 businesses towards success
- Hosted over 220 businesses in our space with over 300 events, workshops or off-site strategy sessions
- Over 15,000 people come through our doors for events & workshops
- Supported over 120 events through free or heavily discounted event space
- Hosted some big name brands for events:
– Hootsuite
– Active Campaign
– EOS
- In the last 2 months we finally broke even
Key Learnings
- Don’t go into a business under-capitalised
- Be prepared to pivot – we did this 3 times
- Don’t give away too much stuff for free!
- Always set expectations and boundaries – otherwise people take advantage
- No matter what people say, they only really talk with their wallet
- I can no longer work ‘in’ this type of business & with the next iteration I need to be the Visionary
And the biggest learning?
- Don’t sell your home or flash car to fund a business unless you are certain you can make it work – in fact, maybe just don’t at all!
As you wind up 2020, as a leader set your management team the same task. What are their accomplishments this year and what have they learned? Then ask how these lessons will help them make the most of opportunities and solve challenges next year. As their leader, knowing this you can then lead them through the decisions that need to be made, empowering them to work with you to create a better, more profitable business.
If you’re serious about taking your business to the next level in 2021 I want help you.
Because I’ve helped CEO’s just like you.
Click here to book a qualifying chat with me and let’s make 2021 less busy, less stressful and more rewarding for you – and more profitable for your business.
