A New Year’s Resolution for Small Business

New Year’s Business Resolution
The frenetic lives of entrepreneurs can mean that marking successes falls by the wayside.

Is it possible that entrepreneurs – famous for their energy and invention – are allergic to celebrating their own business success?

As a new year dawns, resolutions thicken the air. I’d like to give B.C. small business owners a New Year’s challenge of my own – to celebrate their success. That may sound flimsy, but, as many entrepreneurs know, marking your victories is not as easy as it sounds.

In my 11 years as an entrepreneur, I’ve struggled with it. Celebration can seem an allergy for even the most successful entrepreneur.

I suspect it’s something in the entrepreneurial spirit – the drive to take on challenges, the thirst for new ground to cover, and the hardwired work ethic. It may be that the qualities that make a great businessperson are also the ones that disable self-congratulation.

But this isn’t always the case. We all know (and perhaps wish we didn’t) entrepreneurs who relish tooting their own horns. They toot loud and often. My bet? That for every grandstander, there are dozens playing down their successes.

I spoke with a fellow entrepreneur about the issue in the waning days of 2010, as her company celebrated its 10th anniversary. As a longtime friend I see her business successes as they happen, but even as a close observer it’s too easy for those accomplishments to blend into the everyday ebb and flow.

Once you’re past the business startup phase and made it to “I’m earning a decent living off this thing,” the tendency is to work diligently away. But keeping your head down prevents you from properly recognizing and celebrating your business success.

Let’s change that in 2011. Why? Because building, growing, and sustaining a business is no mean feat.

And so, together, a resolution: To give ourselves a pat on the back for another year of making it work.