{"id":617,"date":"2011-09-07T12:05:18","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T11:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lornemitchell.com\/blog\/?p=617"},"modified":"2011-09-08T00:27:06","modified_gmt":"2011-09-07T23:27:06","slug":"starting-afresh-business-cycles-and-no-objectives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=617","title":{"rendered":"Starting Afresh, Business Cycles and No Objectives"},"content":{"rendered":"

I always enjoy this time of the year. For me, in many ways, the 1st of September is the start of a New Year.
\nIf you can remember when you were young, or even more recently, if you have children, this time of the year marks the start of the academic year. It is back to school week and also Freshers week for those starting University. It is a out-of-sync start to the year when, in the Northern Hemisphere, we are all heading into Autumn and Winter. Perhaps the original designer for the academic cycle was an Antipodean when it coincides with Spring. Who knows?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyway, I have found over the past three years of running a small consulting business that there are definite peaks and troughs in demand for an extra pair of (external) hands to kick-off a new campaign or project. And that cycle is very much in in line with the school year. I can see a definite trend of individuals buying in three cycles – September\/October, January\/February and April\/May\/June. Nobody buys anything in August!<\/p>\n

So with this New (Business) Year, I decided, whilst on holiday in August, to do a few radical things – just to mark the occasion. \u00a0I’ve upgraded my apple computer (because the old one broke beyond repair). \u00a0I’ve changed broadband service provider to Zen (having been struggling with BT’s customer service for several years). And I have also decided to move from my old-style accountant to one that can handle the cloud, is more proactive and help the business grow. \u00a0All these changes have definitely given me a “back to school”, start of a New Year refreshed feeling.<\/p>\n

With these somewhat mundane changes, I have also been reflecting on the past three years and what goals and objectives I should set the business for the next three years. After all, I run a business called Objective Designers! So I was very amuzed to get an email this morning from a great productivity blog I subscribe to called “ZenHabits”. \u00a0I was reading an earlier entry called “No Goal<\/a>” – which struck a chord. \u00a0What if we actually have no goals? \u00a0What then? \u00a0I love the two quotes at end of the ZenHabits post:<\/p>\n

‘Always remember: the journey is all. The destination is beside the point.’<\/span><\/p>\n

“A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”\u00a0\u00a0Lao Tzu<\/span><\/p>\n

Why do we set all these goals and objectives? \u00a0What purpose do they serve? \u00a0Is there really an alternative framework with no goals, no budgets, no plans. \u00a0Just free-and-easy go-with-the-flow business? \u00a0I can see this probably wouldn’t work in big business, but for a micro business, it is an interesting idea. Many self-employed folk around the world probably do this naturally anyway!<\/p>\n

Anyway, it makes you think – which is what this blog is all about!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I always enjoy this time of the year. For me, in many ways, the 1st of September is the start of a New Year. If you can remember when you were young, or even more recently, if you have children, this time of the year marks the start of the academic year. It is back … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Starting Afresh, Business Cycles and No Objectives”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[80,40,37,55,53,79,72,36,81,60,46],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DQGK-9X","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1627,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1627","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":0},"title":"You Can’t Push String!","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"03\/09\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"After the July\/August holiday period, I always enjoy the first week of September. \u00a0I see it as the beginning of a new year. \u00a0Not the calendar year, nor (in my case) the academic year, but the start of the year for new projects. \u00a0People return from asynchronous communication through the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Attention"","block_context":{"text":"Attention","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tin Cans","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lornemitchell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Tin-Cans-300x170.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":285,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=285","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":1},"title":"How to be Positive about the Cuts","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"19\/11\/2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This week is GEW - Global Entrepreneurship Week.\u00a0 There have been lots of events around the world.\u00a0 There are some interesting gaps and statistics from their site: The Ambition Gap Over 50% of the population want to start a business but only 5.8% do The Demographic Gap Young people (18-24)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Ideas"","block_context":{"text":"Big Ideas","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=42"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1599,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1599","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":2},"title":"Zen and the Art of Business Conversation","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"06\/08\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It is August and the holidays are here! \u00a0For many, July and August are the months for rest and recuperation and spending time with family on holiday. \u00a0For those that live in the northern parts of the Northern hemisphere, it is a time for getting some sun on our skins\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=69"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lornemitchell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_0532-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":625,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=625","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":3},"title":"Honey, Pumpkins and Two Ninths","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"15\/09\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"What joy! In the past week we have been taking off the honey and harvesting the goldengages and runner beans that have magically grown through the summer. It is a truly magnificent time of the year! But our biggest success is the most ENORMOUS pumpkin - grown from two (out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Ideas"","block_context":{"text":"Big Ideas","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=42"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lornemitchell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Pumpkin-Patch-e1316075356198.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1335,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1335","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":4},"title":"The End of the Break","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"05\/09\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As we come to the end of the summer break, for most of us, school, university or work starts afresh. \u00a0I say, for most because, like with all generalisations, there are always those who break the rule. \u00a0An increasing number of friends seem to be moving into \"retirement\" or \"semi-retirement\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Attention"","block_context":{"text":"Attention","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lornemitchell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/break-glass-in-fire-sign.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1408,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1408","url_meta":{"origin":617,"position":5},"title":"Crowds and Power","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"20\/06\/2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The recent events in Iraq and the rise of ISIS as a regional power makes one wonder what all of the Western intervention in the region has achieved. \u00a0It reminded me of reading a book written back in the 1960s - Masse ind Macht (or Crowds and Power) by Elias\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Attention"","block_context":{"text":"Attention","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=617"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":628,"href":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617\/revisions\/628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}