Resolve to Stay on Target in 2009

Last week one of our local clients stopped in to pick up a prized bottle of Digett-crafted wine that our team made to celebrate the season. From my office, I heard them say to Valarie:

"You make it so easy to do business with you."

Of course, I was delighted to hear that. That simple compliment captures the essence of what we so diligently try to achieve as a business. My hat goes off to Valarie, as well as the rest of the team, for doing everything it takes to engender such praise.

I hope our client’s compliment serves as foreshadowing of the year to come and that we hear much more positive feedback from our clients throughout the year. But I'm not letting a kind word go to my head and prevent me from doing what I know we should do at Digett to ensure success in '09. In fact, with the onset of a seemingly global economic panic, darned if I’ll let the dust settle around the office at all anytime soon. So, perhaps with a little more gusto than usual, here they are:

Mark’s Top Three New Year's Resolutions for 2009

Cut the Fat

It is always a good time to seek the most value from a dollar spent. If there is a best time to do so, it would be within the context of a tightening economy. I’m vowing to take the time this year to identify and pursue legitimate measures to lower overhead while continuing to refine Digett’s service offering.

Such pursuit sometimes calls for tough decisions, and tough decisions can be tempting to defer. But these are sometimes the most important decisions of all, if not the most urgent, and I am always thankful once they’re behind me. The alternative might be to ride my procrastination straight down a vortex of diminishing opportunity. Maybe I lack nerves of steel, but the thought of that actually scares me. Better to nip things in the bud.

Try New Things

I like to think of myself as someone who embraces new ideas. But just because I like something doesn’t make it so. I develop habits, and habits can be blinding. This year I will make “removing the blinders” an integral part of how we approach our work as a team at Digett.

This concept is fundamental, by the way, to how the most successful firms develop. “Removing the blinders” is a synonym for “innovation.” Innovation is something that entrepreneurs inspire. Great firms cultivate entrepreneurs.

Focus. Work Hard.

This year I am renewing my commitment to maintain focus and a strong work ethic. I put “focus” and “work hard” together because to do one without the other is meaningless. Together they create a force more powerful than a raging river.

I’ve never been afraid of hard work, and there are few obstacles in life that thoughtfully guided hard work cannot overcome.  Achieving focus, on the other hand, becomes more difficult for me in a world that surrounds me with so many distractions. Given my nature to please, it is not instinctive for me to shut my door, let the phone go to voicemail, and ignore my email inbox. But I subscribe to the notion that our best work arises out of our complete concentration. Focus, for me, comes when I consciously devote necessary time for it.

Conclusion

Cut the fat, try new things, focus and work hard. I dare say there’s a recipe for success, in life and in business. Okay, maybe it’s not the simple. But ya’ gotta start somewhere, right? No better time than 2009.