Is it time to burn your company? No, I’m not talking about setting fire to your building like in Office Space, and this post has nothing to do with getting insurance money for some fast cash.
photo by Al_HikesAZ's
I’m talking about a controlled burn.
Controlled burns are used in forestry as a method to “reduce fuel buildup and decrease the likelihood of serious hotter fires.” Maybe its time to do a controlled burn with your company, to clear out the underbrush that’s getting in the way of your growth.
Burn Your Old Files
The longer you are at any job the more you accumulate a pile of junk. Old files stack up, in-boxes overflow, receipts and scraps of paper litter your drawers. Take a few hours, or even a whole day, to go through your entire office and trash what you no longer need. If you’ve put those files onto your computer do you really need to keep the storage devices they came on? Do you have piles of old computer equipment that can’t even be used any longer hanging out, cluttering your workspace. Clear it out!
Burn Your Old Systems
Old systems can clog a smooth running business engine faster than just about anything. There are certainly advantages to sticking with a system you know, but new business tools are being created constantly that can help you be more streamlined, mobile and efficient. Try and view your systems from a mindset of a new employee. Are there things you could be doing faster or better? Take a broad look at how your business progresses through work and see if you can simplify and speed up your systems using new tools and technology.
Burn Your Old Mindset
Working at a job for awhile can also get your mind in a rut. When you first started you proabably had lots of great ideas for ways to do things better and faster. Bureaucracy or an overload of work can strip that mindset away from you pretty quickly. You need to get that mentality back. What are ways you can change your thinking to have a more positive state of mind towards your job? What are some good ideas you had at first that have been sitting on the back burner? How can you motivate your employees or coworkers to make your company better for yourselves and your customers?
If you keep meaning to do something like this and never can find the time, schedule it out in the future. Pick a date on your calendar and make it “Burn Day.” Then don’t let anything else get scheduled for that day. Shut everything down until you let this fire do its work. Clear out the junk that keeps getting in your way and see new growth appear in its place.
It seems like in this crazy modern world we have more and more time-saving devices but less and less time. While there are a myriad of factors causing this problem I want to propose one way to help – get more time by cutting back.
I first heard about the Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 Rule while reading The 4-Hour Work Week, but it is an idea that has been getting a lot of attention in the past few years. Basically it states that 80% of your returns come from 20% of your efforts. The 80/20 Principle has been used on everything from setting goals to information security to relationships.
Once you start thinking about it you may realize (I certainly did) how true this principle can be across many parts of your life. What would it look like if you used this principle to cut out the 80% of your life that wasn’t productive, fulfilling, or fruitful? What if you used the 80/20 principle to take a fresh look at:
The number of RSS subscriptions you actually read and find worthwhile
Often we can get new ideas by looking at things from another angle. In this article we’re examining some aspects of outstanding basketball teams and players and applying those strategies to running a business.
Build a Great Team
Professional teams don’t just happen by coincidence. They are built over years of trading, drafting, and recruiting. Managers spend lots of time and money getting the exact person they need to complete their roster, even down to their bench players.
Choose your team carefully too. Look for people with a strong work ethic who are willing excited to learn and contribute. Even if you find a player with lots of experience, make sure their head is still in the game. Each player on your team should be interested in helping the whole team get to victory. Don’t grab the first Joe to apply for your new position, be as rigorous in finding that perfect person as an NBA manager.
Even if you are a single-person business like me, you can still build a great team. Friends and family can provide support, local business owners can be great for helping with ideas, and industry contacts can help give feedback on specific projects.
Be a team player
Its a well know phrase that “great players make everyone around them better.” Read More »
Blogs are great. They have the potential to help your business reach across the world, stand out from competition and develop a following for your brand. Writing a blog can help establish you and your business as an authority in your industry. They can help you communicate with a niche market, disseminate news quickly, and build community.
photo by Kristina B
There are considerable number of positives to business blogging. Don’t get me wrong in this article – I think most companies should have a blog. However, putting a blog on your site is not a quick fix; its not an automatic easy way guarantee that your traffic will boom and your website be a success. Blogs take time, energy, and more time. And because of this many blogs on business websites can actually hurt the business. Few things worse looking on a professional site than a blog with one post, or a blog that hasn’t been updated in months or years. So, take some time to think about if blogging is right for your business. My suggestion? Don’t start a new blog if: Read More »
When I first got a Wacom tablet for working on design, I was in love. After just a few hours of getting used to using it I was working so much faster and easier. When I started Apt Design I knew I didn’t want one for my new office, I needed it. The price tag is up around $400, but the tablet helps me work almost twice as fast sometimes, so it was definitely worth it. I couldn’t work without it – I was spoiled.
Recently I’ve been spoiled again by an online application called Mint. Mint allows you to track and analyze your personal finances, and it does almost everything for you. After inputing some data about your bank accounts Mint automatically pulls in updated information about those accounts everytime you log in. Read More »
If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.
Mark Twain
Honesty solves a lot of problems by never letting them show up in the first place. And its just as important in business as it is in your personal life. Here are a few places to think about your honesty:
Be Honest with your Employees
To a large extent you need to let your employees know what’s going on with your company. Finding and keeping good employees can be difficult for any business, and if you want quality employees that will last you need to let them be invested in the company and feel like a part of the team. Nothing breaks that down faster than them knowing that there is something going on and not being able to ask you what it is.
I’m not saying you should open your accounting files and let anyone scroll through, but the more involved an employee is along the way the more important and satisfied they will feel. Ideally they can help brainstorm solutions with you and may help you solve issues.
Be Honest with your Potential Clients
With some businesses there can be a lot of smoke and mirrors before the sale. Cut that out and let them see why they should work with you – without all of the fine print. Be upfront in your sales discussions about your costs (you should be able to back up your prices anyways). Read More »
Last week my hard drive on my iMac crashed. Died. Done.
When I called to tell my wife the news she said, “You sound much more calm than I thought you would.” That’s because the night before the crash my automated weekly backup (via the very nice iDrive) ran and all my client files were safe and secure in the cloud of the internet.
While I had always heard the importance of backing up your computer, that day’s calmness confirmed just how vital this task is to any business. After using TechTool Pro I was able to boot the drive up for a couple hours and pull the few files that didn’t get backed up (of course, I back them up now), but all in all the crash was nowhere near the disaster it could have been. Surprisingly the closest certified Mac technician is all the way down in Ellensburg, but in just a few days the awesome guys at CCS had me back up and running. In the meantime I could keep working on my laptop and everybody stayed happy!
Two lessons from this story:
Apple no longer has the shiny halo around it that it once did for me. (the hard drive was only 1.5 years old!)
Backups are critically important. The time they take (which, with automated backups is virtually none) is never wasted.
Well, its just about summer again, which always has me wondering for a few minutes if I should have been a teacher so that I could take the next 3 months off. Then I remember what teachers have to do for the rest of the year and I’m content with my job.
But I do think breaks are important. There are two types I’d like to mention which are important for your business (whether you are an owner or an employee).
The Full-Day Work Break
This kind of break lets you escape the normal routine and confines of the workday, just for a day, and can help your company tremendously. The idea here is to get out of the office, away from your tasks and phone calls, but to still let your mind drift to work-related thoughts.
Getting out of your normal environment can help your brain do the same thing. Not bringing email or a phone with you helps keep you distraction free. Now you can have time to think of bigger-picture problems in a different way, and hopefully see new solutions.
Some sort of exercise helps stimulate thought as well. As your body is engaged let your mind drift to work-related issues and you may see complicated problems begin to simplify and bound up topics begin to unravel.
Take along a piece of paper or a journal and record the solutions you think of during this full-day work break. Make it like a brainstorming session for the general direction of your company – no answer is wrong. Later you can go back and find the ideas that were completely off-the-wall and the ones that have break-inspired genius.
The No-Work Vacation
Sometimes the full-out vacation is the best medicine for both you and your business. Take a huge break, get away from everything work-related both physically and mentally. Get out of the office, out of the city, out of the state. Read More »
Well, some people have been noticing Apt’s new websites are pretty good. The new site I finished up for Leavenworth Summer Theater has been featured on some showcases of great web design, including:
In today’s world of people being able to instantly post reviews of your company on the internet for the world to see, word-of-mouth is more important than ever. And though the two examples above are from the design industry there are certainly people writing about the bad in your industry as well. Read More »
I first heard about the 
When I first got a 
Recently I’ve been spoiled again by an online application called 
Be Honest with your Employees
Last week my hard drive on my iMac crashed. Died. Done.
Remember when i said that 
Why be good?