Performance Reviews for the Solopreneur (Part 1)
Assessing Your Vendors/Alliances/Partnerships
As a solopreneur, you may not have employees, but successful solopreneurs have partnerships and alliances that help them get their business done… well.
Similar to employee performance reviews, I recommend a partnership review at least once a year to keep the relationship growing and evolving. Here’s how it might look…
- Identify the vendors you use regularly to get things done. Some ideas: designers, assistants (virtual or real life), copywriters, bookkeepers, printers, etc.)
- List out the top 3 based on volume, their value, their potential impact on your business.
- Think through each relationship. Are you happy with the work they produce and results they create for you? What works beautifully? What needs some adjustment?
Some ideas: communication, timing + deadlines, quality of the work, metrix, costs, etc.
- At this point, you can make the decision to end a relationship and find some new partners in that domain OR move on to number 5.
- Find a time to connect in-person with your top pics. I encourage giving people a heads up that you are looking at ways to be more effective and productive as partners prior to your meeting. Let them know that you want their input in that conversation. You might want to help them prepare by giving them a few questions to think about (e.g. what’s working well, what could work better, any other information about growth and/or operational changes that might effect how you work together).
- Meet. Share the love. Share constructive insights. Solidify your relationship.
Additional Posts to Check out:
Vendor Love
Relationships vs Transactions
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Dad & Jen’s Top Ten
When I read this article about a dying father’s wishes for his daughter, I wondered what my dad would say in regards to his lessons and legacy of learning. I decided not to wait until he was dying to find out. To spark conversation, I sent him my top 10 list:
#1 We create our meaning. Isn’t it more empowering to create meaning that inspires?
#2 We typically are our own biggest barriers. The upside of this is once we recognize this, we can seek counsel, environments, head space that supports our dreams and goals, wants and desires.
#3 Team is essential to life.
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Vendor Love
In response to my recent blog post, “Relationship vs. Transactions”
Lionel Felix of Enfatico has inspired the concept of: Vendor Love! See a bit of his insightful comments below regarding the advantages of giving and receiving Vendor Love.
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Relationships vs Transactions
Relationships matter. They are the single most important tool for making life happen on all levels – personally, professionally, organizationally, civically, and globally.
Relationships cause countries to make alliances, enterprise to be maximized, money to be exchanged, and personal fulfillment to happen.
In business, relationships can be easily confused with transactions. What can someone do for me? How can I get something out of this exchange?
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Rich Lorbach: The Wisconsin Entrepreneur
Richard Lorbach is an anomaly. Based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he’s launched 5 companies (4 of which have been purchased) since 2002, all while keeping his full-time job as a graphic design consultant for a bank.
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The Dream Program
Earlier this week, I spoke with Dave Brautigan – an Atlanta entrepreneur.
Dave owns several businesses from pizza restaurant to commercial refrigeration company. The types of employees he hires for each of his business are typically different from one another. Where one business may require social employees, another needs technical know-how. Regardless of the difference in “types” of employees, the key here is engagement.
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Supergenius Highlights
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Word of Mouth Marketing Supergenius conference in NYC put on by Andy Sernovitz and his great team at gaspedal.
It was a great day-long immersion into the “how to’s” and “case studies” of how we can share and leverage the specialness and love our brands create and foster for our consumers, clients, and customers.
Below is a resource share and some nuggets of wisdom from the conference:
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