Today I had a conversation with an entrepreneur about their 2020 plans, which they’d clearly spent a lot of time thinking about. One thing jumped out at me. They have six objectives in the first quarter alone. A similar number of objectives were listed for each of the other three quarters. The plan was extremely aggressive, especially considering the considerable uncertainty that characterizes the economy at the moment.

Based on my experience, it’s hard to get a team to focus on more than two or three objectives in a short time (e.g., three months). When I spread myself or my team thin with too many priorities, it usually didn’t turn out well. Either nothing was completed or a fraction of our goals were reached, which still felt like a failure. Over time I learned to distill things down to the two or three most important things and focus on those areas. The trick for me was figuring out what the two or three things were that would move the needle.

If you’re starting 2021 with a long list of priorities (or none!), consider taking time to craft a list of the two or three things that will have the biggest impact.

Today is the last day of my holiday vacation. This is the first time since I became an adult that I haven’t traveled for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Compelled to stay home by the pandemic, I spent time recharging. I’m not happy about not seeing my family, but this quiet holiday was a much-needed break after a hectic 2020. The year was full of so many extreme changes that I think I was mentally worn out. The unusual holiday gave me a chance to recover from 2020.

Change is good and I embrace it, but 2020 has taught me to be aware of the magnitude and number of changes and the time frames they occur in. I’m sure 2021 will be another year of change, but I’m hopeful that it will be more moderate.

I had a good conversation with a buddy about 2020 and 2021. He said that 2021 will be a year of experimentation for him. He plans to try several different things, knowing that many will not work out. His goal is to learn and have a few successful experiments that pay dividends.

My friend isn’t an entrepreneur, but I love his perspective. Though we’re living in uncertain times, he understands that doing nothing isn’t an option. He has to take action toward reaching the goals he’s set for himself and his family. His action will be risk adjusted. He’s not going to bet the farm on his experiments . . . but he will make some bets. Worst-case scenario, all his experiments fail and he learns a lot. To him that knowledge will be valuable even if the monetary value of his bets shrinks to zero.

Perspective is important, and I think the beginning of the year is a great time to think about it.

What will 2021 be about for you?

I hope the new year is off to a great start for everyone!

Today I spent time reflecting on 2020. I read old writings, emails, and text messages. I looked at pictures and news articles. I wanted to digest everything that’s happened this year personally and at a macro level. There was so much to absorb that it was bit overwhelming. I had lots of plans that I scrapped. I wasn’t too thrilled about that but didn’t have much choice. On the flip side, some great things happened that were complete surprises. After all this, I had one big takeaway: Life is iterative and plans go awry. Adjust as necessary.

This was a challenging year, but I feel like it was a year of growth for me. I’m happy to close out 2020 and looking forward to 2021!

Tomorrow’s the last day of 2020, and what a year it’s been. I can’t celebrate New Year’s Eve like I normally do, so I’m thinking about how I want to spend the day. This will likely end up being one of the most eventful years of my life, so I think I’m going to spend time tomorrow reflecting on it. So much has happened that I want to go through and digest it all before I close the chapter. I’ve had a lot of highs and lows this year, so I’m curious how the exercise will turn out.

How do you plan on closing out 2020?

I had a conversation the other day with an entrepreneur (let’s call him “Ed”) who was frustrated with his business partner (“Phil”). Ed is extroverted and focused on the big ideas. Phil is introverted and detail oriented. Ed’s frustration is rooted in feeling like Phil hasn’t been supportive of some of his ideas.

I came to the conclusion that these two are the perfect match. They balance each other’s weaknesses and together are a well-rounded team. The difficulty is Ed’s perspective on the situation. He can’t forget times when Phil has disagreed with ideas he felt strongly about.

Ed and I went through some of their most successful initiatives of 2020 and the role each person played. I pointed out how each of them contributed and how unlikely each success would have been without both of them. Sure, some ideas didn’t pan out, but the ones that did were successful because of the partnership.

In my opinion, in this partnership, Ed has more to be happy about than unhappy about. He just needs to adjust his thinking. Does he want to play team ball or beef up his own stat line? Partnerships are difficult. Sometimes you get your way and sometimes you don’t. In the end, it doesn’t matter as long as you end up wearing the championship ring.

I listened to an exchange the other day that resonated with me. A former entrepreneur who couldn’t get his idea off the ground was talking to a friend.

Former entrepreneur: I used to think I had to be the leader or the ideas guy. I’m starting to realize I’m happier executing someone else’s vision. I like being on teams.

Friend: Really? You always wanted to start your own thing.

Former entrepreneur: I think I just thought that because I was supposed to.

The self-awareness of this person and the circumstances that led to his growth struck me. He has embraced being better suited to be a good team member than the leader. That’s a tough pill to swallow for anyone with an entrepreneurial mindset.

Entrepreneurship is demanding. For many people, it doesn’t work out. If you’re considering it, just know that even if your idea doesn’t fly, it won’t be the end of the world. You’ll learn a lot from making the attempt, and that growth will be priceless. It may be the very reason for your future success.

I had a conversation today with a friend who’s also an entrepreneur. He has a consumer-facing business. He told me about a difficult customer who has unrealistic expectations on a shoestring budget. I had this exact same situation many times in the early days of CCAW. We tried to work with customers who had tight budgets and priced our products aggressively. In the end, we accomplished our goal of attracting more customers. What I didn’t realize was that some of them weren’t a good fit for our business. The time and energy required to service these new customers skyrocketed. Many of them were unprofitable and impossible to please.

As CCAW grew and we had more resources, we developed a more sophisticated pricing strategy and implemented it in a dynamic pricing engine. The strategy was aimed at attracting customers who wanted a fair price but also wanted high-level customer service. These customers were OK with paying a little more for peace of mind. Over time, our data told us they were also more agreeable and easier to work with when unavoidable circumstances arose (e.g., bad weather). We ended up building a large profitable business by targeting this type of customer.  

When you’re starting out, you’re figuring out how to solve a problem in a way that people are willing to pay for. Once you do, it’s worth stepping back and thinking about whom you want as customers. You can’t be everything to everybody. All revenue isn’t good revenue. If you’re intentional about the customers you want to serve, you can steer clear of those who aren’t a good fit—who, frankly, are more trouble than they’re worth—and build customer loyalty.

Yesterday was a unique Christmas, to say the least. Many people couldn’t get together with friends and family the way they usually do. There was a silver lining, though. I assume because they couldn’t do “Christmas as usual,” lots more people reached out to me than normally do at Christmas. I had some great phone conversations and FaceTime calls that I really enjoyed.

Christmas may be over, but we’re still in the holiday season. If you think about someone, reach out. I’m sure they’ll appreciate the gesture. Who doesn’t like being reminded that someone cares about them and is thinking of them? You never know: you might just make their day!