Business Lessons From a Visionary

Many people around the world are mourning the passing of Steve Jobs this week. He made a tremendous impact not just in the technology arena, but in various areas of our lives. He's even been called a world-changer.

According to a myriad of articles all over the internet, Jobs was known to be determined, focused, enthusiastic and a perfectionist, even to the point of being called crazy. He didn't give up, though, and he didn't stop at "good enough." He went the extra mile - and beyond. We can all learn from Jobs, including owners of small contracting businesses.

Here are some quotes we hope you'll think about as you go to work in your own business:

"When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through."

"To design something really well, you have to get it. You have to really grok what it’s all about. It takes a passionate commitment to really thoroughly understand something, chew it up, not just quickly swallow it. Most people don’t take the time to do that."

"When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions. Most people just don’t put in the time or energy to get there."

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me."

"You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever."

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do."

Our Very Own Running Man

We are suckers for a good charity, especially one for children.  So we were delighted to find out one of our LE friends, Gerhard, ran 163 miles for one such charity.  That was 52 hours of non-stop running from Cocoa Beach to Clearwater Beach, starting Friday night and ending at midnight on Sunday.

Volunteers were set up the whole way to run or bike with him for several miles at a time and also a support vehicle to carry all the provisions that he may need, including rain gear for when it started raining on Sunday afternoon. 

When he finished at midnight on Sunday it was really windy, cold & wet conditions on Clearwater Beach.  The weather was so bad, cruise ships were not allowed back into the Port of Tampa on Sunday as they were worried they wouldn’t safely make it under the bridge they pass through to get back to port. 

He was doing this to raise money for the Sunshine Foundation whose sole purpose is to answer the dreams of chronically ill, seriously ill, physically challenged and abused children, ages three to eighteen, whose families cannot fulfill their requests due to the financial strain that child's illness may cause.

If anyone would like to donate to this great cause, you can do so by either

Making checks payable to Sunshine Foundation

Mail to

Gerhard Treviranus

1731 Vintage St

Kissimmee, FL 34746

Or going online to www.sunshinefoundation.org/donations click on Donate Now and reference ‘Gerhard’s Run’ in the Notes/comments section of the donation page.

Run Gerhard, Run!

Winding Down the Year

As the end of 2010 approaches, there are several things to do for your business to finish out the year and prepare for the new one:

Talk to your CPA - Find out if there is anything you need to do to cut your tax bill. December may be your last chance to take advantage of special programs with tax benefits.

Check deadlines - Make sure none of your county or state licenses, permits or other requirements don't expire on 12/31 and if they do, take care of it now before the holidays take over and you forget. Also check on anything that expires in January so you can be prepared. Florida Annual Reports aren't due until 5/1, but you can start filing on 1/1. Need help tracking all your deadlines? Check out our License & Business Maintenance Services.

Review your goals for 2010 - What did you hit? What did you miss? Why did you miss them? What can you still accomplish in December? What can you do differently next year?

Prepare your goals for 2011 - Create your plans of action while you're at it. If you want to boost revenues by 20%, how are you going to do it? Create a monthly schedule so you can be working on these goals every month.

Plan your marketing and advertising for 2011 - How and where are you going to advertise? What kind of special promos are you going to offer? Create your plan and budget - this is NOT the place to be cutting back. You can't increase revenues without new customers. Don't forget to include the most cost effective marketing resource - Social Media Marketing. It's how businesses keep in touch with prospects and customers these days. Find out more about our Social Media Marketing Services.

Get your license! - If you've been procrastinating on a new license you've already tested for, what are you waiting for? All the fees and expenses you've paid so far might be tax deductible. Why not finish the process? If you're testing in December, you can still get your application submitted - and possibly approved - before the end of the year. Another goal accomplished! If you haven't tested but there is a license you want to obtain, start working on it. Register for the next exam (February), contact the schools, get your books and talk to us. There's no time like right now to get your license!

We all know how December turns chaotic with the holidays, vacations, employees on break, special closures, parties, etc. And then January blows right by as we recover from the holidays, catch up on what didn't get done in December and prepare for the new year. By being a little proactive, you can set yourself up to finish 2010 on a high note and start 2011 with a bang!