It has now been about 2 years since I left corporate life to make The Brainzooming Group a full-time effort. Last year on this date, I shared 25 lessons learned and reconfirmed during the first year of The Brainzooming Group. Here are 25 more lessons from year two away from corporate life, although it's hard to say some of them didn't originate in year one!
- Peoples' priorities, especially in corporations, change quickly. Things can go from hypercritical to off the list in what seems like minutes. Inside the corporation, you may not even notice. As a vendor, it can be crushing.
- A lot of corporate life was filled with meetings. The absence of so many needless meetings creates a lot of time in your day.
- Keep experimenting with pricing and other parts of the marketing mix ALL the time.
- Taking a "friends and family" approach to business development is a good start, but it is hardly sufficient.
- Get out of the office and see people.
- I'd underestimated the business potential of Facebook. Now, I'm playing catch-up.
- Go for unique, higher-risk opportunities than predictable, lower-risk opportunities that promise they'll get better.
- R.E.M. did things in their own way, at their own pace, in their own style. That's a pretty solid long-term business strategy.
- I'm not sure if absence makes the heart grow fonder, but 24/7 togetherness doesn't.
- If you're willing to surrender your will to God, he'll put you in the places you need to be.
- When you're in a big corporation, the last thing you may want is dealing with more people. When you're an entrepreneur, that changes.
- Frugality, frugality, frugality.
- A one-tier cost structure is a recipe for failure at worst or stagnation at best.
- At some point, you have to stop thinking you're average at everything you do while still maintaining a strong sense of overall humility.
- There were things I could afford to stay out of or not do in the corporate world that I can't afford to avoid anymore.
- You can't over-estimate the impact of being able to stay calm during challenging times.
- As difficult as it might be, you have to let go of previously strong professional relationships that turn non-reciprocal. Really cultivate the ones that do remain vibrant, though.
- Go out of your way to meet new people you would never have expected to meet. Go out of your way to re-meet people who pass through after long absences. You never know how your life will be changed by it.
- Don't wait for someone to join you. Go ahead and try it yourself.
- As important as a tight team is, go to unfamiliar people for reactions, because you'll get a much more accurate perspective.
- It's okay to take the risk that something you walk away from will hit really big for someone else. You can't pursue everything.
- Life is really incredible if you allow it to be incredible. Many times "incredible" materializes because you haven't directly intervened in mucking up the ordinary.
- It's easy to slide backward - really easy. If you're going to slide backward, do it consciously, not accidentally.
- You need a business model, not just an idea. A business model can sustain you for an extended period of time. Ideas have to be continually replenished. Continually replenishing ideas for an extended period of time can drain you beyond recovery.
- Wait for it.
The Brainzooming Group helps make smart organizations more successful by rapidly expanding their strategic options and creating innovative plans they can efficiently implement. Email us at info@brainzooming.com or call us at 816-509-5320 to learn how we can help you enhance your brand strategy and implementation efforts.
