Earlier this year Lars made a comment that stuck with me.
The Legendary one Said,
"after 10 years of doing this biz, I feel am on top of my game like never before."
Those words were the single most motivating words I read on GFY this year.
I've been in this industry since 1997 and I've enjoyed more success than I ever imagined. The problem is I was working hard but didn't have the fire I once had. After I read that comment I thought back to all the 18+ hour work days and all nighters I used to pull. Reading that one post lit the fire under my ass and got me focused again. For that I have to thank Lars. Thanks My Man!
So with all that said I've been thinking about 2005 and was thinking about how I'd grade my performance. Here's my personal 2005 Report Card.
Positives of 2005
- We grew our revenues and profits by over 150%.
- We opened an office and expanded our work force from 4 to 18 people.
- We've had 7 consecutive record sales months ending off the year on a bang.
- Worked some key business deals in December that will surface in early 2006.
- Hired the right people and in just a few months managed to assemble a work force more talented than I could have imagined (Note Mrs Shap and Jassie made all the key hirings).
Negatives of 2005
- Too concerned with perfection and small details.
- Failed to launch new projects.
- Failed to optimize our earnings, I'm still leaving way too much $$$ on the table.
- And my single Biggest problem in 2005 was that I micro-managed way too much. I improved in the second half but nowhere near where I want to be. I read a great post by SweetT from NationalNet describing his success. He said
There are only two things that I do well....
1.) I hire the right people based on gut feelings that I have about someone
2.) I get the fuck out of their way and let them do their job.
I'm good at 1 and absolutely HORRIBLE at 2. I'm working on improving.
Conclusion:
We had a successful year however I have to say a large part of that is Mrs Shap and Jassie. Mrs Shap for being Mrs Shap, she rocks! And Jassie (who runs our office) has been so amazing I'm in shock. Jassie was put into a situation with no managing experience and has turned around and is running the office like a pro. I don't even dare think where we'd be without Jassie. In fact our whole team from programmer to support staff is amazing.
My Personal Grade for 2005 of C+
I don't feel I'm at top of my game yet, but I'm getting there. I plan to kick more ass than ever before in 2006 and get to the Top of my Game
So how about you? What would you grade yourself for 2005?
With the topic being 2005 Review here are some Twistys pics from 2005 taken by Mr Dean Capture. I give these an A+
