Winter can mess with momentum. But instead of just enduring it, this is the season to simplify, strengthen, and quietly prepare for the spring rush.

It’s the end of February, and here in NJ, we’re digging out again from another major snowstorm. Customers disappear into hibernation. Sales slow down. The doldrums threaten.

But here’s the truth: strong businesses don’t just survive winter — they use it.

This is why I talk so much about a Profitable Business Plan. A PBP isn’t something you create once and admire. It’s a working framework that helps you make steady, grounded decisions in real time — especially when energy and revenue feel uneven.

Turning to your PBP refocuses you on four basic functions of your business: financial strength, customer focus, back-office efficiency, and continuous learning. Work on each one, even modestly, and the improvements compound. Review your results periodically. What’s working? What should you change? The plan holds you to your strategy, and your actions produce visible results.

Here’s what that can look like in winter.

1. Strengthen Your Financials

Stop Trying to Do Everything

Winter is not the season to scatter your energy. It’s the season to concentrate it.

It may feel counterintuitive during a slower period, but simplifying to grow is a proven strategy. When conditions tighten, focus sharpens.

Ask yourself:

• What 20% of my services generate 80% of my profit?
• How can I make my most profitable service easier to buy?
• Who are my most reliable customers and what do they need right now?

Clarity is magnetic when customers are cautious.

Make a clear offer for a short-term interaction. Many people will say yes to something they can accomplish in 90 days before committing to a longer engagement.

In my Common Sense Chats, a former client recently mentioned a challenge she was facing. I suggested a focused “tune-up” call to address it. She bought on the spot. Her previously unresponsive client is now back in touch, and the process we devised will work again.

Momentum often comes from narrowing the offer and making it easier to say yes — not expanding everything at once. That is simplifying to grow.

2. Focus on the Customers You Have — or Could Have Back

Strengthen Relationships Instead of Chasing New Ones (For Now)

When demand slows, many owners panic and start chasing cold leads.

Winter is a prime time to deepen the relationships you already have. I love to do some of these:

• Invite a top client or raving fan to a networking event.
• Reconnect with someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.

If attendance is slow at your own events, it may not be a marketing failure. It may simply be a nudge to strengthen your existing circle before expanding it.

Call. Your best people will pick up. Don’t sell. Ask what’s in their way. Offer a little help.

When spring spending returns, you’ll be the first call. And when those calls come in, you’ll want your systems ready.

3. Upgrade Your Back-Office Efficiency

Improve the Machine Behind the Scenes

Winter is gym time for your business.

If momentum slows, you finally have breathing room to fix messy processes, document systems, tighten follow-up, automate email, and yes — clean up your CRM.

One client building a not-for-profit postponed setting up a CRM because she didn’t need it YET.

When I pointed out that by mid-March she’ll be doing TV appearances, running a golf clinic, soliciting sponsors, and delivering product, she got it. Without a clear way to track her connections, chaos would ensue.

YET often arrives just before you think you’ll need the system. If you use this winter window wisely, you won’t be scrambling when business accelerates. You’ll be ready.

But before your machine is up to speed, you’ll have to do something else.

4. Fixin’ to Get Ready

Learn and Polish New Skills

You can’t strengthen finances, deepen relationships, or streamline operations without the skills to support them.

AI tools, CRMs, automation platforms — they’re accessible and increasingly necessary. They can provide efficiency, but they don’t replace judgment.

I asked ChatGPT for a simple outline to begin this piece (efficient) and realized I already had a stronger organizing structure through the PBP framework (judgment). I’m new to the tool, and it helped get me started. My business experience shaped the direction.

If my fund-raising client sets up her CRM during this breather season, she’s doing what we called where I grew up “fixin’ to get ready.” When her YET shows up, she won’t be overwhelmed. She’ll be positioned to thrive.

Winter is not a verdict on your business. It’s a strategic season — one you don’t have to just endure.

A Profitable Business Plan keeps you steady when momentum dips. It reminds you to simplify to grow, to strengthen what’s working, and to replace tactics that haven’t delivered. And crucially, it helps you upgrade your capacity before the spring rush.

Small steps across those four functions add up. Nothing pulls you out of the doldrums faster than visible progress. First quarter leads right into second quarter, and it will be spring before you know it.

If you’re feeling the winter drag in your own business, this is exactly when a focused PBP conversation can help. Not to overhaul everything — but to clarify what matters now, where to concentrate, and what to quietly strengthen behind the scenes. One good planning conversation is often enough to replace the doldrums with direction.

If that sounds useful, reach out. I’d be glad to talk it through with you.

Lorette Pruden has helped hundreds of small business owners, sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and community leaders grow their businesses and manage that growth since 2000. She specializes in the Formerly Corporate—so many small business owners who’ve worked with her come from a corporate background that she finally wrote the book on it.

The plans you made are still solid. Your ideas are good. But results may not be showing up quite the way you expected, at least not yet.

Nothing feels wrong. It just feels a little unclear.

This is exactly the point where pushing harder can feel tempting, and where a pause is often more productive.

The Q1 Review: Built-In Clarity

If you've worked with me using the Profitable Business Plan (PBP) approach, you'll recognize this phase. Built into the process is a deliberate pause in Q1 to review what's actually happening in the business.

Not to judge yourself. Not to scrap your strategy.

But to make sure the tactics you chose are doing the job you intended them to do.

When they are, great, we stay the course. When they're not, we adjust the tactics, not the strategy.

That distinction matters, especially early in the year.

In the initial few years of the Farmers Market I run, we had been constrained to a certain weekday and afternoon hours. We had done just about everything we could think of, but growth was stagnant. Our customers told us they'd prefer Saturday mornings.

During our winter review and planning, we decided to change. We found a new place, got new permits, spread the word. That first year we moved, we doubled our revenues and cut our hours by one third.

The lesson? Sometimes the strategy is sound, it's the tactics that need to shift.

Looking at the Numbers Earlier—Without Panic

One habit I've seen work wonders for clients over the years is reviewing their numbers sooner, and doing it regularly.

Instead of waiting until April, when tax deadlines and second-quarter pressure can force rushed decisions, many choose to look now, while there's still room to adjust calmly and thoughtfully.

This isn't about obsessing over spreadsheets or picking apart every line item. It's about noticing patterns:

• Which services are actually profitable, not just busy
• Where cash flow feels tighter than expected
• Which clients take more energy than they're worth

This kind of early review isn't about judgment. It's about awareness.

And awareness creates options.

When you can look at Q1 honestly, without turning it into a measure of your competence, you give yourself room to make better decisions, sooner.

Choosing Fewer Priorities on Purpose

Another pattern I see pay off again and again is intentional restraint.

Most owners started the year with a long list of goals. That's normal, and often a sign of healthy ambition. What shifts now is a willingness to narrow the focus.

Choosing one or two priorities and letting the rest wait isn't giving up. It's recognizing that focus is what creates traction.

Five priorities tend to pull against each other. One or two can actually move.

This matters most when Q1 feels "okay but not great." That's the moment when adding more can quietly dilute results instead of improving them.

A useful question is:

If I could make meaningful progress on just one thing by June, what would matter most?

That question sits at the heart of the Profitable Business Plan process—and it's a powerful filter when everything feels important.

Asking Better Questions

Even when tactics shift based on early data, one of the most productive changes this quarter isn't tactical, it's mental.

Instead of jumping straight to solutions, many owners are taking time to ask better questions:

• What is actually driving profit right now?
• Where have I made this more complicated than it needs to be?
• What would happen if I stopped doing one thing instead of adding another?

Top of mind for many owners in Q1 2026 is how to incorporate AI into their business. Becoming more proficient there can save significant time and money. What if you focused on mastering one AI tool by June? Would that be the best use of your time right now?

If so, the follow-up question becomes: What would you stop to create that time?

These questions challenge habits and assumptions. But they cut through noise quickly, and that matters in a year when attention and energy are limited.

The Real Bottom Line for Q1 2026

Here's the reassuring truth:

The first quarter of 2026 doesn't have to deliver explosive growth. It's meant to deliver clarity.

The businesses that do well this year won't be the ones that pushed hardest in January. They'll be the ones that paid attention in February and March, using early signals, tightening focus, and building stability before chasing scale.

So if this quarter feels fine but fuzzy, don't panic.

That's not failure. It's information.

And clarity, not motivation, is what turns a decent year into a stellar one.

Q1 is exactly when you earn it.

Lorette Pruden has helped hundreds of small business owners, sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and community leaders grow their businesses and manage that growth since 2000. She specializes in the Formerly Corporate—so many small business owners who’ve worked with her come from a corporate background that she finally wrote the book on it.

There’s optimism—maybe this is the year things settle, grow, or finally feel more manageable. And there’s pressure—because you know there are things you could do differently, or better, if you were clearer about what matters most.

Most of us didn’t start a business to feel scattered or uncertain. We started it to create income, independence, and a business that supports the life we want—not the other way around.

January is one of the few times in the calendar that naturally invites reflection. Before the year fills up with meetings, emergencies, and “urgent but not important” tasks, it’s worth asking: What deserves my attention this year—and what doesn’t?

You may have noticed a trend on social media and in articles lately about creating a “personal curriculum”—a self-directed plan of learning and growth that’s organized like a syllabus, but tailored to your own curiosities and goals. The idea is to bring intentional structure and reflection into your life in a way that’s both purposeful and satisfying rather than overwhelming. Inc.com

The “personal curriculum” concept is clearly connected to business, in my mind. When we design our focus—whether for learning, habits, or business strategy—we’re more likely to make progress that feels meaningful and sustainable.

A few years ago, I worked with a client during a slow part of his industry cycle. Revenue had stalled, confidence was low, and he wasn’t sure his second career was going to work out.

When I invited him to think in terms of doubling his income, he thought I was out of touch.

What he says now—often, and publicly—is that in the first year of working with our clear, focused business plan, his revenue doubled. By the end of year three, he had nearly tripled his business—from under $1 million to almost $3 million in closed sales.

That kind of progress doesn’t come from guessing or working harder. It comes from working on a Profitable Business Plan, one with clarity, focus, and better decision-making.

A one-time business consultation is a structured way to find that clarity. In a consultation, we explore what’s working, what isn’t, and what a realistic focus could look like for your business in 2026. Most people leave with clearer priorities and more confidence about where to put their energy.

Some people choose to move forward on their own after that. Others find that ongoing coaching helps with follow-through, accountability, and course-correction as the year unfolds. Coaching is optional, and only makes sense when it genuinely supports your goals.

This January, I’m making space for 12 thoughtful business conversations—not just to plan, but to think together about what’s truly worth pursuing this year.

If you’re feeling pulled in too many directions, or simply want to begin with more intention, this can be a useful way to start.

👉 Learn more or request a New-Year Business Consultation here.

Wishing you a clear, steady, and well-chosen year ahead.

Lorette Pruden has helped hundreds of small business owners, sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and community leaders grow their businesses and manage that growth since 2000. She specializes in the Formerly Corporate—so many small business owners who’ve worked with her come from a corporate background that she finally wrote the book on it.

Besides the growing, harvesting, baking, and flower-arranging our farmers and vendors do, the Montgomery Friends of OpenSpace (MFOS) Farmers Market is itself a business. Even the off-season takes planning and hustle: promoting the market, staying in touch with our team, finding new farmers and sponsors, keeping food-handling certifications current, and learning at conferences.

During the weekly season, we’re putting out flags, posting on social media, writing emails, setting up tents, picking up bread, and managing the generator so we can have music and tacos! The market manager and crew are on site well beyond our posted hours. And every week brings surprises—a new vendor searching for a stall, a nearby festival pulling customers away, a sudden staff illness, hens on strike, or tomatoes ripening late. I’m not making this up.

The market is a business, and so is every vendor’s booth. Behind the colorful tents, glorious produce, and smiling customers lies the essential question: what is a business for? To sell something.

Success at that takes what I call The 4 C’s: Consistency, Communication, Consideration, and Collaboration.

These cornerstones build a profitable market—and a thriving small business.

I’ll share each C from the customer’s, seller’s, and market’s perspective. Since you’ll see your own first, be sure to step into the others.

Consistency – The Power of Showing Up

Consistency builds trust, trust drives sales, and sales keep us in business. Customers return because they know they can count on us. They expect their favorite stands to be there, rain or shine. Nothing sinks a vendor’s heart like hearing, “Oh, I already bought that at the store.”

Farmers and vendors earn confidence by:
• Being reliable. Avoid skipping weeks or leaving early, which confuses customers and hurts the market’s reputation. Chasing greener pastures at another event often costs more than it gains.
• Keeping offerings steady. Experiment with new products, but make sure shoppers can find their favorites every week.
• Showing up with spirit. A tidy, well-stocked booth—and a tidy person behind the table—signals professionalism and pride. Logos, name tags, and market “spirit wear” broadcast enthusiasm and investment.

Consistency isn’t glamorous, but it’s the quiet force behind repeat business—for each seller and for the market as a whole.

Communication – Keeping the Conversation Flowing

A great market depends on clear, respectful communication in every direction: vendors with management, vendors with customers, and vendors with each other.

• Stay in touch. Read emails, respond to texts, and share updates promptly. Weather changes, special events, and promotions all require quick responses.
• Tell your story. Customers love to hear about your farm, your baking process, or the inspiration for a recipe. Good storytelling creates loyal fans. Bring photos. Bring the kids. We’ve “raised” quite a few farm-market kids who still come back—or even work with us.
• Participate and give feedback. Share concerns or new ideas early. Vendors who attend multiple markets have a wealth of best (and worst) practices to pass along. Honest dialogue helps everyone improve.

Open lines of communication prevent small problems from becoming big ones and keep the market humming week after week.

Consideration – Respect for Each Other and the Space

Markets thrive when everyone treats each other—and the shared space—with care.

• Respect your neighbors. Keep music and generators at reasonable levels, stay within your allotted footprint, clean up after yourself, lend a hand with setup or breakdown, and don’t forget your weights!
• Be mindful of customers. Arrive on time, be ready when shoppers arrive, and provide clear signage with your farm name and location. Friendly service, clear pricing, and safe food handling build trust and sales. • Think big. A welcoming atmosphere reflects well on all of us. The market represents our community, the mission of Montgomery Friends of Open Space, and the larger New Jersey farming community. Support our local sponsors, too, by shopping with them.

Consideration builds goodwill, and goodwill draws both customers and community support.

Collaboration – Growing Together

No market manager, single vendor, or lone customer can create the vibrant experience that keeps shoppers coming back. This is a relationship business.

• Invite friends. Catch up, listen to music, and taste foods from different cultures. We often feature produce that’s new to some shoppers but beloved by their neighbors—ask for preparation tips.
• Cross-promote. Share each other’s social posts, mention neighboring stands to customers, create bundle deals with complementary products, and let your customer list know when you’ll be at the market and what’s happening.
• Join events. Cooking demos, kids’ activities, and themed market days succeed when vendors participate. We now celebrate not only Halloween and Thanksgiving but also the Autumn Moon Festival, Diwali, and Chinese New Year. Know a food-related festival? Help us add it!
• Support the mission. The market was founded to support local agriculture. Participate in fundraisers or outreach events. MFOS also manages parks and trails—volunteer there too.

When we collaborate—sharing ideas, marketing together, and helping with logistics—the market becomes more than a shopping stop. It becomes a community destination.

Our Market Is Your Business

Think of the Montgomery Farmers Market as an incubator for your own small business. The habits that make the market successful are the same habits that grow your farm or food enterprise:

• Reliable quality and presence build brand loyalty.
• Clear messaging and storytelling attract customers.
• Respectful relationships create lasting partnerships.
• Cooperative projects open new opportunities and revenue streams.

By practicing the 4 C’s, you’re not only strengthening the market and building a community resource—you’re strengthening your bottom line.

Let’s Grow Together

The MFOS Farmers Market isn’t just a place to sell—it’s a business ecosystem. Every vendor, farmer, artisan, sponsor, and community group contributes to the health of that ecosystem.

When we show up consistently, communicate openly, act with consideration, and collaborate with one another, we create something bigger than any single stand:

a thriving marketplace that supports local agriculture, protects open space, and delights our neighbors.

Here’s to many more seasons of good food, great company, and steady growth from practicing the 4 C’s.

Together, we make Saturday mornings in Montgomery something special.

This story is about more than running a farmers' market. It’s about building relationships, learning about our neighbors, and strengthening local communities. Wherever you live, shop local—and help your own marketplace thrive.

Lorette Pruden has helped hundreds of small business owners, sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and community leaders grow their businesses and manage that growth since 2000. She specializes in the Formerly Corporate—so many small business owners who’ve worked with her come from a corporate background that she finally wrote the book on it.

I have recently had plenty of time to contemplate this 
proposition—Do small wins matter? 

Near the end of 2024, on New Year’s Eve eve, I fell.  My trip down the seventeen steps from our home turned into a tail-over-teacup tumble landing head-first--POW--on the concrete landing. As I gingerly sat up, I knew this was a BIG ONE. 

The neighbors came running, my husband’s boss lent him the company 
van, we went to the ER, it only took 4 hours before the cat scan said no brain bleed, the ER doctor put 5 stitches on my eye bone, and I was home. 

‘Don’t think’, were the basic instructions. My brain needed to recover. 
Well, how does a person NOT THINK? 

Recognizing Your Small Wins 

What counts as a small win? Sometimes, it’s as simple as: 
- Following the doctor’s (or your accountant or your coach’s) advice 
- Finally following up. Make a call! 
- Posting a piece of content that resonates with your audience 
- Having a productive conversation that sparks a new idea 
Each of these may seem minor in isolation, but together, 
they build momentum, confidence, and, ultimately, results. 

My Own Small Win Story 
Here’s what I did to NOT THINK--nothing for about 3 weeks, 
except cancel some client and other appointments in favor of seeing the docs. 

I became, in those 4-5 upside down seconds, the kind of person whose calendar is color-coded with medical appointments. 

After a few weeks, it was still hard to think. I mean, to follow a train of thought, to start a series of tasks (never mind finishing), to separate my thoughts from outside stimuli, but I was getting better. 

If I thought too hard or too long, even a little, the result was painful. Not like a splitting headache or anything I’d experienced before, but my brain hurt. So I had to stop and rest. All the way till the next day. 

Listen, I could still cook some, and eat, and follow a load of laundry through a full cycle from basket to drawer. But thinking was painful. 

I realized after a while that I could not measure my progress from the day’s results or the week’s accomplishments. I could just do what I could do, and after a month, or two or three, now four, I could say, 

'Well, I couldn’t do THAT in January. Or THAT in February.' It seemed like I was getting better. 

By March I was working with a new coaching client. 
By April, I was working on a big summer project.  
By May, I was selling flowers at my church sale. 

Notice Small Improvements 

Some funny things happened. A team of volunteers I’ve worked 
closely with for years had seen me at the end of February and again at the end of March.  A couple of them came up, and with enthusiasm, one said 

‘Oh, you look SO MUCH BETTER!’ (What did I look like in February, I wondered?) 

And the second one said,  
‘Yeah, I’ll bet we can’t pull the wool over her eyes NOW!’ (What wool, I wondered. And when were they pulling?) 

And ZOOM AI, in a meeting summary with the same group, captured this:   
‘A participant introduced a new topic as the meeting was already 
running over, and Lorette asked to table the new topic. When the other party kept right on talking, Lorette said she was closing the meeting—she just couldn’t cope any more.’ 

How to Build Your Momentum 

- Identify the next smallest step. Not the big, overwhelming goal—the one thing you can do today that moves you closer. 
- Do that step. If it’s too much, take a smaller slice. Don’t downplay that. Count that as a win. 
- Celebrate progress. Take a moment to recognize and share what you’ve done. That’s what I’m doing with this email.  
- Create a habit of action. Whether it’s reaching out to one new connection a day or refining one piece of your  business each week, be consistent. Do one marketing thing a day. 

What’s Your Small Win Today? 

Here’s mine. It’s May 8th now, and I can write this newsletter, because small wins add up in business too.  
I worked a whole concentrated hour on this one day, and that was the win for the day. I finished it the next. 

When you consistently pursue small wins, they compound over time. What starts as minor progress—one email, one connection, first draft of one 
piece of content—snowballs into a business that is growing steadily and 
sustainably. 

Where am I in my Small Wins Story? 

I’m noticing small wins and feeling them adding up. 

It’s been over four months now, and I’m coping better. I managed 
the flower sale at my church sale, though it was much harder than in previous years. I’ve signed up a pretty good-line up for the Farmers Market I manage, though I got started kind of late.  And reached out to you, my small business friends. 

All my medical team say I’ll recover...with time and doing what they say. 
Rather than waiting for a big breakthrough, let's focus on the power of momentum--small wins are the fuel that keeps the journey going. 
I might try that new trick-I just can't cope with this meeting overrun. 
And don’t even try to pull the wool over my eyes! 

Where are you? Let us know some of your small wins. They feel more real when you share them. 

Lorette Pruden has helped hundreds of small business owners, sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and community leaders grow their businesses and manage that growth since 2000. She specializes in the Formerly Corporate—so many small business owners who’ve worked with her come from a corporate background that she finally wrote the book on it.
 

Small businesses employ 45.9% of the U.S. workforce or about 61.6 million people. 

BUT...8 out of 10 small businesses operate without employees.

I check the US Bureau of Labor Statistics frequently but had not seen that one.

How is that sustainable?

Stop there a moment...That means about 80% of all business owners in the US operate alone. No wonder they feel overwhelmed. What if there were a better way?

Planning for Better

As you look at your plans for 2025, ask yourself these questions:

• How will you get the work done? 
• What could you change in your business that would let you off-load some work, without taking on a big payroll?

Over my twenty-plus years as a small business consultant and coach, I discovered the better way. I didn’t invent it—it was right there among my business coaching clients.  

And it’s dazzling! I named it The Starburst Business Model.

This hidden gem, this revolutionary business approach, is powerful. It leverages key assets that often aren’t recognized—your relationships.

This model can shift your mindset from doing it all yourself to building a collaborative network of experts as your go-to team. The set of unique strengths in each network creates a thriving ecosystem.

The Starburst Model Is Perfect for Solopreneurs

The small business owner values independence and control. But independence doesn’t mean doing it all alone. The Starburst model allows you to:

• Stay agile while scaling.
• Build a support system without hiring employees.
• Create a resilient business that grows with you.

How Does it Work?

The unique aspect of the Starburst Business model is reciprocity. I’m going to use this word a lot, so here’s a couple of definitions

From the Cambridge Dictionary:

Reciprocity is behavior in which two people or groups of people give each other help and advantages.

In social psychology, reciprocity is a social norm of responding to an action executed by another person with a similar or equivalent action.

Reciprocity works within a set of mutually beneficial relationships.

It is NOT a one-way street where subcontractors come and go.

In the Starburst model, work flows naturally around a network of experts with different skills. Each business owner focuses on bringing in money, as well as the business tasks she’s good at and loves to do.  The stuff she isn’t skilled in (or flat-out dodges) goes to the person who excels and is eager for that kind of work. Each gets paid for what they do best.

And with freed-up time and energy, the small business owner can turn to essential but not urgent areas of the business. Strategic planning, branding, or even looking for new business often get dropped or pushed aside by the overwhelmed.

Why Does it Work?

In a Starburst business model, small business owners work for EACH OTHER, in their areas of expertise, but not as employees. The key again is reciprocity.

• You focus on your strengths:

Every small business owner excels in certain areas but struggles or ignores others. In the Starburst model, you stick to what you do best and delegate the work that is not in your wheelhouse. Remember, the primary job of the business owner is to bring in the business!

• You have flexibility without employees

Hiring cost money, time, responsibilities and risks. When you build a Starburst network, you can find the skills you need without committing to a permanent hire.

• The businesses grow through working together

When one member of the network grows, everyone benefits. Referrals and collaborations create a ripple effect that multiplies opportunities for all involved.

Tell Me More...

The independent publisher has a writer for a client. Often the first task is coaxing out a finished manuscript! But publishing requires a wide range of skills.

• Editors for polishing manuscripts (so many kinds of editors!)
• Designers for layout, book covers, websites (so many designers!)
• Marketers to promote the finished product (so many platforms!)

But the publisher (remember, no employees) does not need each of those skills sets every day. With a Starburst approach, the editor builds a network of trusted specialists:

• An editor with other authors connects publisher with new clients.
• A designer who works on the book covers recommends the publisher to other creatives.
• A marketer who promotes authors also drives traffic back to the publisher.

And what goes around comes around.

A marketer for small businesses pioneered a co-working space in her community.

• The creatives she needed to work with would be close at hand, while being able to work on their own projects. 
• The marketer offers her space to others in her Starburst network—her mastermind network, her coaches and other professionals-- as meeting or presentation space.
• The traffic through the co-working space creates even more business and relationships.

These examples are of real clients from a real mastermind team I led.  I saw the marketer yesterday. She wants to do my Profitable Business Plan workshop, coming up in January. The publisher gives talks at the creative marketing hub. She prodded and coaxed me to write my book, Formerly Corporate, where I first wrote about the Starburst model.

These are long-standing relationships, and business just keeps going around. I try never to miss a party with these folks.

If this Starburst idea seems like a dream, the network I sketched out above has been working for over 15 years.  And there are several more business owners involved.

Can you imagine a “constellation” of Starbursts?  All these little Starbursts shooting off new ones?

It takes time and determination to find the right people for your Starburst. But once this gets going, it is easier to connect with a collaborator’s network, and on and on.  You build “colleagues for life”.

How to Build Your Starburst Network

This is a flexible, efficient way to do business, centered on the things you do best.                              

• Start with what you love to do. Why did you start your business anyway? What are your core strengths—the things you truly enjoy and excel at it?
• Identify what’s missing. What are the chores of your business? What never gets crossed off your to-do list? I guarantee there’s a small business owner out there who loves to do that.
• Find your people. Look for professionals with complementary skills, where the finished job requires both or most of the skilled folks in your Starburst. And who value this next part:

Treasure the Emotional Connections

Be genuine. The key to success here is again...reciprocity. What goes around comes around. As in any good relationship, you all have to put in the effort.  You are building your teams.

When you’re in a Starburst Business, you’re saying:

• “I trust you will bring your best to the table, and to my clients that I share with you.”
• “And I will do the same.”
• “I value your expertise, as you value mine.”
• “Together, we can create something greater than we could alone.”

Ready to start?

The Starburst Business Model is more than a strategy. It’s a mindset. It’s about shifting from trying to do it all yourself to working in a thriving, collaborative community. And aren’t we all yearning for community these days?

If you’ve read this far, you are thinking about how this could work for you. I’d say first—take note of the things you really don’t like to do in your business--the stuff that means you’re leaving money on the table. Then think of who you know who does that work. Or ask someone. I bet you’ll make more money than you spent for the help. And there’s three people in your Starburst already!

Lorette Pruden has helped hundreds of small business owners, sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and community leaders grow their businesses and manage that growth since 2000. She specializes in the Formerly Corporate—so many small business owners who’ve worked with her come from a corporate background that she finally wrote the book on it.

If you don’t quite recall, President Kennedy took a huge long-range risk at great cost to send astronauts to the moon—and back. The Apollo program cost billions in 1960’s dollars, and millions of (mostly) man-hours (ref the movie about the computers), and several brave pioneers lost their lives in the testing before the moon-shot mission.

Two great movies can to fill you in and get you in an adventurous mood: Hidden Figures and  Apollo 13.  The success of the moon shots depended on the “computers”—the name for the data analysts who computed with slide rules. And the skilled pilots-the astronauts who flew Apollo 13 back.

I remember that time well, because I grew up, not quite in the shadow of NASA, but within commuting distance of Huntsville, Alabama.  Houston and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida are more famous, but Huntsville was the cradle of the space industry. It is still a center of high-tech innovation and creation in the space industry. It is also home to the US Army Base, the Redstone Arsenal, where the Marshall Space Flight Center is located.  My grandmother even worked at Redstone during WWII, in a kind of Rosie the Riveter manufacturing role while the guys were at the front.

There’s a great museum there, where you can go “weightless”!

That’s probably as close as most of will get to a moon shot.

But within our own businesses, there are plenty of chances to think too hard about too small a target, and not enough about taking a bigger risk. 

Let’s take a look at the risks and costs of either path in more detail.

Take Action!  Set Sail.

There you go…setting goals and targets, but often holding yourself to smaller steps than you’d really like to accomplish. Even once you have your plan established, there are so many ways it can go wrong, both anticipated and unexpected.

The number one reason projects fail is failure to start. I read that in an HBR article decades ago. It really stuck. So, start.

What could go wrong?

• Getting Stuck on Assumptions:  One of the great lessons of my engineering education came early on…before you start a solve a problem, state your assumptions.  Even that simple exercise can lead to breakthroughs. It became one of my strategies in my career—examine the assumptions.  “We’ve always done it that way” does not lead to innovation. It can, and does, lead to limiting approaches and lessened adaptability to new information.
• Overrunning your Budget:  What’s your budget-- of time, energy, money, health? All of those are limited for the citizen business owner. Resources--personnel, infrastructure, opportunity costs-are expended. When you choose one project, another must be rejected, or postponed. If the program fails, or you quit or turn to something else, these sunk costs could sink your business! We do not have a Mint like Kennedy did.
• Missing Opportunities: In the R&D world I lived in then, any researcher worth her salt had more ideas that the team could possibly tackle. That’s also true in the small business world. Target market, pricing, marketing mix--how to choose? There are opportunity costs.
• Missing More Opportunities: Sticking to a short-term focus can neglect long-term sustainability and growth. Someone has to be looking to the future.
• Stagnating: The status quo is rarely stable over the long term. By relying on apparent stability, the risk is staying in the same place, whether it's career, personal growth, or relationships. Your skills may decay, or even worse, you fail to keep up with new ones.
• Limiting Outside Perspectives: By staying in your comfort zone, you limit your exposure to new ideas, cultures, and experiences. This narrow perspective can hinder career and personal growth, and understanding of the world around you.
•  Resisting Change. Many people, including the leader or owner, resist change. Even change agents resist change they didn’t initiate. Conflicts, decreased morale, and lower productivity arise and stubbornly remain. Skepticism is welcome, but cynicism is toxic.
• Damaging our Reputation: If the program fails or doesn't meet expectations, it can damage the reputation of the individuals or organizations involved, affecting trust, credibility, and personal pride.
• Stunting Personal Growth: Over time, the things you didn't do can weigh on you, leading to feelings of regret-- about missed chances, unfulfilled dreams, or relationships not pursued.
• Burnout and Stress: The increased workload and pressure associated with implementing a program of action can lead to burnout and stress, at work and at home.

But what if you don’t rock the boat?

Kennedy warned against the long-range costs and risks of comfortable inaction. Here are a few.

We are still discovering the reality and opportunities of space exploration. You are reading this through technology developed in that exploration. The internet, satellite phones, GPS, precision missile targeting, should you need it—all arose from risks taken and costs incurred decades ago.

The current US political situation reflects this lack of shared experiences, or rather, of over-emphasizing our differences rather than looking for common ground.

And those people! We are such a problem. Fear is a fundamental stopper of initiative. What could go wrong here?

If you’ve ever been through a merger/acquisition, you’ve seen this. Systems (software, processes, relationships) don’t merge easily either.

When you don't challenge yourself, you may start to doubt whether you're capable of achieving your goals. This loss of confidence can make you less resilient when faced with adversity. Isolation is stagnating. The” re-entry” from COVID isolation has been more difficult that many of us expected.

All these personal challenges—resistance, regret, pride, loss of confidence, isolation—make it harder to cope with setbacks and bounce back from failures.

These are fearsome risks. It’s enough to make you cut the throttle and rock along on the comfortable course you’ve set. But that is short-term thinking. Even if you’re working on a new program, you may be aiming too low.

We take risks and incur costs for a reward. Often it’s not the reward we expected. Sometimes it less than that. But sometimes the reward is, as they say, beyond our wildest dreams.

Humans got to earthly orbit. We got to the moon. We flew past Mars, and Saturn. Now Voyager is 15 billion miles from Earth, exploring even farther. And just recently, NASA engineers repaired the 46-year-old computers across that vast distance.

And many businesses and jobs and new ideas have resulted.

What big vision do you have for your business? Are you working on that, even part of the time, while you manage operations and sales and cash flow?

What about adding a new strategy, and shooting for the stars?

Lorette Pruden has helped hundreds of small business owners, sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and community leaders grow their businesses and manage that growth since 2000. She specializes in the Formerly Corporate—so many small business owners who’ve worked with her come from a corporate background that she finally wrote the book on it.

Alongside doing more and/or better at the things that are working, it's crucial to consider different strategies to bolster your income.

Here are four you might consider:

1. Add more options. One of the most effective ways to boost revenue is by expanding your product or service line. Is there a new market segment just waiting for you? What could you offer that would attract new customers and cater to existing ones? Ask your existing customers what else they might be willing to buy.
2. Leverage your online visibility. People look you up, you know. From Google searches to LinkedIn profiles to Instagram, FB, and TikTok presence, prospective customers will look for you online and current customers will follow you. How could you spruce yourself up there?
3. Reward customer loyalty. Encouraging repeat business and customer referrals can be a sustainable source of revenue. Loyalty programs, exclusive discounts, or rewards can keep your current customers coming back and spreading the word about you to others. (Team Nimbus alumni, I’m sweetening the pot for you.)
4. Review your costs. While not directly increasing revenue, optimizing operational costs can effectively boost your bottom line. 4th Quarter is a great time to review expenses, cancel forgotten or unprofitable subscriptions, negotiate with suppliers, and streamline your business processes. Reduce overhead, keep more of your earnings.
   Here at Team Nimbus, we're considering all four. I’ll just mention a couple we're doing now.

First, we offer a private coaching day, focused exclusively on the client’s specific need.

Here are a few topics we’ve covered recently:
Build (or Review) Your Profitable Business Plan
Why Not Quit? Creating a Graceful Exit.
Profitable Client Prospecting Day.
What business challenges do YOU need to focus on?
Book a time this week at CallwithLorette.com.

Second, we are live online with complimentary Common-Sense Chats for Small Businesses. On the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month, we discuss the challenges our attendees are facing, and some very creative approaches come up. Free brilliance!

Attendance is free, but registration is required.
Register at Teamnimbusnj.com/common-sense-chat/

I look forward to our discussions.

The way it is:

In this record-beating summer, the dog days have descended with unanticipated furor. The relentless heat, fires, and floods push down on our spirits and sap our energy. It’s hard not to wonder if the earth itself will roast or drown under the strain.

I’ve had to lean on my own resilience to acknowledge that this is something different, yet I still move ahead.

The sun blazes overhead with intense energy, and we can harness it to power our modern lives.

The air-conditioner labors to keep up with 100+ heat index days, and I am lucky to have one.

Torrential rains alternate with high heat index and stifling humidity, and our drought-baked fields are now green. I decided to shut our farmers market earlier in the day and preserve the produce the producers and the shoppers.

A sense of promise:

Amidst the struggle, there are moments of camaraderie.

I’ve seen the season’s two blockbuster movies in theatres, the one about the A-bomb (too serious for popcorn) and the one about a glamour doll (yes, we wore pink). I went with different sets of friends. Both crowds were much larger than we have seen since pre-pandemic times. And in both, people were talking with strangers.

There's a sense of solidarity in enduring this summer together, and even complaints about the heat blend with news of grandbabies and family gatherings into a sort of communal small talk.

As we yearn for a cool breeze or just a bit of rain, we find solace in the little respites summer offers. We retreat to shaded spots, savoring popsicles. I’m eager to plunge into cool quarry waters in a swimming hole nearby. New lovers find a way to each other, and they will remember this summer as magical, without its worst parts.

What we can make of it:

Though it may not be the most picturesque, romantic summer, it is undeniably a testament to the human spirit. We adapt, we cope, and we find ways to make the most of this searing season.

And there is my business lesson for this post…resilience is built into human nature. We are problem-solvers and artists, we are doers and baby-makers, and brides, and grooms.

We are resilient persistent and creative. There are momentous challenges for us, but we know what to do. This is the moment. In the doggiest of dog days.

So how about we take a look at your results so far, and at what you had hoped to accomplish for 2023?

First, let's acknowledge and celebrate your accomplishments. Have you experienced steady or growing revenue? Have you forged new customer relationships and business partnerships? Take pride in your progress thus far.

Ask yourself also: Do challenging market conditions mean you need to shift gears? Are you sticking to your plan? Or do you need to start, stop or continue an activity?

To help you enhance your results, here are three steps to consider:

1. Enhance customer experience: Prioritize exceptional service and reach out for feedback from your customers. By promptly addressing their needs and improving their overall experience, you'll foster loyalty and generate positive word-of-mouth.

2. Refine your marketing strategies:

From the feedback you got in Step 1, tailor your marketing efforts to resonate with the unique needs and preferences of your ideal clients. Try your new message out with current customers and new prospects you meet.  Once refined, your outreach through digital and social media platforms will attract a better-matched set of potential customers.

3. Join our Business Builder Mastermind team: Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals in a collaborative environment can significantly impact your business.

Our Mastermind team cultivates a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration, where you can leverage the collective expertise of talented business owners to grow and manage your business more effectively. Book a call with me at CallwithLorette.com to learn how you can become part of our next Mastermind team.

Humans thrive when they work together, and wither if they rely too much on themselves. If you’re a solo entrepreneur, a partner, or an owner of a business with fewer than 10 employees, being part of a real Mastermind team can alter the course of your business.

As we navigate the business landscape, remember the wisdom of B. Brewster Jennings, Chairman of Mobil Oil from 1944 to 1951: "Man's greatest discovery is teamwork by agreement." Together, we can achieve extraordinary results.

I look forward to discussing your business goals and how our Mastermind team can support your growth. Let's make the rest of this year a remarkable success.