I am a big fan of breaking large projects into bite sized, easily manageable pieces. Call them phases, stages, parts or what have you; it is all the same. The point is taking something that has a deadline far in the future with a million to-do items and turning it into something that has short deadlines with easily managed and concise deliverables. To effectively accomplish this you have to sit down and have the big picture discussion with the end goal clearly in mind and plot your course to completion; this is where I find lots of projects get tripped up. Even if you have broken it down into 2 week deadlines, you still have that looming 3 month deadline and waste time on the overhead of having to meet deadlines to meet other deadlines.

This is why I like to use the Phase Now and Phase Later approach.  Why not have that big picture discussion and compile a list of concise, clear deliverables and then sort it in order of priority. Once you have done this, put as many priority items as you can in comfortably manage with a short deadline (couple weeks) in a separate list and call this Phase Now; everything else is Phase Later. Get the most important stuff done first and then keep moving down the list from there. Of course this does not work for every project and in every instance, but I have found that things tend to get done quicker and lots of time is saved by not having to implement unimportant details upfront.

the front of our business card

A great business card is absolutely essential to set you apart and it is often the first peek a potential client gets into who you are and how you conduct your business. A sloppy card will speak just as loudly as a stunning one. If you want to leave a lasting impression, you need a great business card (not just a good one).

The fact that most people have very ordinary, familiar business cards works in your favor. As soon as you hand someone a unique card it will almost always lead to a positive reaction, and hopefully a positive working relationship. They will also most likely hold onto the card even if they’re not planning on doing immediate business with you, this could lead to future business or a referral. You are in fact conveying a feeling, establishing your brand and transferring crucial information in one efficient unit. (more…)

Some of the best business advice I have ever received was also some of the simplest. I came across it when Ramin and I attended the 2009 Interbourse in Whistler BC. We spent a week surrounded by the world exchanges elite and soaked up as much insight and wisdom as possible. What truly stuck were the words offered by Gustavo Montero, “stick to your core business, especially when your business is in its infancy.” This has had profound effects on the way we conduct our business and which directions we take. (more…)

I think I have tried to get blogging going for our company about half a dozen times. It’s not as if the rest of my team is against blogging, it is just hard to justify taking the time out of a day that already has too few hours. We all read blogs and even rave about how useful and cool the posts can be, but as soon as we have to bite the bullet and get down to the big dirty, we just don’t.

To answer my own question, yes it does make sense for us. But just like many things we should be doing, it is going to have to become habit.. one of those “teach an old dog new tricks” sort of things. Lets call this my mid-year resolution, to be consistent and turn blogging into a habit. Here is my plan:

1. Blog
2. ???
3. Profit

Now all I have to do is keep my own word.