If you own a business, or you manage a P&L with responsibilities to drive revenue and exceed goals, you hate this phrase, "Well, Let's connect in the New Year and take it from there." It's enough to make you Cringe!
I feel your pain. It is very common, and as of the date of this post (October 18), it is already happening. Many people are already looking for any reason to "shut down" 2018 and push critical decisions and processes off to next year. I argue this is a very bad idea. It is called Procrastination. In fact, the holidays (the time up to December 20th, excluding Thanksgiving), is the BEST time to finalize that deal you've been mulling over for six months, make that critical decision, clean house, or simply stock up to be ready to hit it hard January 3rd.
It is human nature to procrastinate. Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing a task or set of tasks. Whether you refer to it as procrastination or something else, it is the force that prevents you from following through on what you set out to do. I would argue it is the #1 reason we do not achieve our goals in life, relationships and yes, in business. I am a big believer (from experience) that Q4 is the best time of year to implement something new, kick off a new project, install that new software. Why? For the following reasons:
There really is very little difference between Q4 2018 and Q1 2019. After all it is just a month or two, and we all know how fast a month fly's by. May or July, does it really matter? November or January, does it really matter? What really is the difference? Almost nothing. Except for the simple fact if you start now (Q4), you will accomplish all, or a major part, of your 2018 goal(s)!
Yes, one common answer is we do not have the money in our budget for this year, so we need to push it to next year (this may be legit). Then again, many organizations still have plenty of money to spend in their budget, especially if you budgeted for it this year, yet you've procrastinated so long you still have it to spend! The fact is more money is spend in the final 4 weeks of each calendar year that the entire year altogether.
Q4 tends to be slower for many industries. I am not talking about Insurance or retail (or a few others I may be missing), they are very busy. So, if Q4 is slower, then implement that new project! It is the perfect time to focus, focus, focus. So, come the new year you are not spinning your wheels trying to train and launch, you are already up to speed!
Finally, if you are in an industry that is labor intensive, Q4 is a great time of year to hire to fill those positions. There are always many candidates in the employment market who need/want to solidify a job before the holiday and going into the new year. Also, Q4 is a good time to train people for a new role. Some tasks do get pushed to the new year, freeing up time to just "focus" on training so those new employees are ready to go come January.
Now that we are well on our way into Q4, let's rethink what we have been putting off. Let's stop procrastinating and let's get to action.
If I can help you launch that new project you've put off since Q1, please contact me!
Steve Shefveland, Fonder
Emerging Global Services, LLC
steve@emergingglobal.com
www.emergingglobal.com
602-312-8900
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