"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do." Henry Ford As it is the beginning of a new year- congratulate yourself- you have survived another year- a year of tough economic times and a year of good and bad experiences. It is January and the time to think about the coming twelve months and the “good and bad times” that lie ahead. But before you list your new goals, do your sales projections, and make your list of “resolutions,” it is also time to think about the journey you have been on from the day you opened your dream. Let me assume you have been in business a few short years - you are earning a modest profit, you have survived a storm or two, and experienced a usual roller coaster of emotions. Do you remember that original business plan you made at the urging of your accountant, lawyer, investors, and bank? Well it is time to dust it off and check out those assumptions, goals and projections you made while you were bubbly and charged up to launch the world’s largest corporation. I am writing about refection. A tool of management that seems a luxury when you are fighting cash shortages, employee problems, suppiler unreliability, back due taxes, and the threat of losing your best customer. But, it is a tool that can open your mind to new answers to your business problems. Become a student of history- the history of your own business. Reflection will give you insight into your predictive powers if you are honest with yourself. Reflection will test your original assumptions and reflection with reveal your track record of errors. Regardless of your background, starting a new business is one large learning experience with little room for error. And errors you will have made, and will make. Like every other entrepreneur starting out you hired the wrong employee, you bought the wrong merchandise, you wasted dollars on a failed advertising campaign, and somehow your financial records are a mess. Don’t be too hard on yourself, mistakes and problems are basic ingredients in the hatching of any successful business. Who ever wrote that we can profit from out mistakes was no fool- and so can you if you take the time to reflect on your performance. When you worked for someone, you were forced to reflect every time you were reviewed for raises and promotions, But now that you are your own boss- there is no one to monitor you - but you! The other day, I was working with a client’s salesperson, a less than stellar performing salesperson who with a long list of reasons why he was not wining the race- his long list was other people. From management to customers, people were preventing him from succeeding. He loved to hide under the umbrella of “denial.” I tell you this as a warning to the danger of falling into the trap of denial. If your business has not succeeded as you expected- who is to blame- you or a list of “people.” If you are honest with yourself and reflect carefully over the short history of your business- you can profit from your mistakes. You can put into place your own “insurance” policies to help you avoid similar mistakes. If you have not looked at your plan for sometime, if may read as a work of fiction. Those assumptions and strategies may seem asinine and foolishly optimistic. If you read this column on a regular basis, you know I write about the importance of goals and planning. Especially, this time of year. Reflection is the other side of the same coin. You are grading your goal making and accomplishing skills. Goals that are unattainable are not realistic, and unrealistic goals are self-defeating. If your plans are so lofty that they are impossible, what good are they, except they make you feel good when you make them. And when reality takes charge, those impossible dreams have a way of disappearing without acknowledgement of just wishful thinking. Business is reality. Your business operates on facts –and the goals and plans must match the facts if you are to succeed. If you are prone to wishful thinking, fantasy, or denial- reflection can help. If you are quick to predict a bonus year for 2003 forecasting a large increase in sales- it may be time to “get real.” And you get real with a sales forecast by asking about the source of this business bonanza. Will it be new products, new customers, or more business with your customer base—and are the answers “real?” According to an article in “Investors Business Daily,” successful people think about their goals and how they can achieve them, whereas unsuccessful people think about their problems and spend their time criticizing, complaining, and making excuses.” What do you do? Copyright 1999-2003 Paul E Adams Dr Paul E Adams, Professor Emeritus Business, Ramapo College of New Jersey & Retired Entrepreneur, Syndicated Columnist, Host of the access cable TV program "Tri -State Movers and Shakers," and Author of “Fail-Proof Your Business,” Available @ Amazon Dot Com. Comments, questions, or suggestions to: xpaul@pikeonline.net