It’s that time of the year – time to review and adjust course. And plan for the New Year

How did you do this year?
Did you accomplish all you set out to do?
How did it compare to the previous year? Is it better?

For those of you that operate a business, now it’s time to analyze how the business (and you) performed this year.
Have you met your objectives? Analyze 2013 and 2014 side by side. Did the expenses increase, stay the same or decrease?

If 2014 expenses are higher, is that justified by higher revenues or another valid reason?
What are you going to keep and what are you going to do differently in 2015?

Here is my look back at the two previous years:
2013
This was a challenging year.
I had multiple projects going on at the same time.

The week before Thanksgiving I had the “finish line” for several big projects, including a home remodeling  and a major client’s financials.

• Remodeling. I had a major home remodeling (with some rooms being simply gutted out).  And I had to coordinate the work of 5 to 6 contractors at any given time. Everyone was working harder to get it done in time for Thanksgiving and spirits were running high.

• Work. In addition to my regular work one of my clients was going through major business restructuring and needed YTD financials as soon as possible. As Murphy’s Law would dictate, that happened to be also several weeks before Thanksgiving. My regular data-entry person was not available and I had to delegate the task to someone not familiar with the account.

2014

This was a much more “normal” year:

• Training workshops. Good work and fulfilling.
• Tax clients. With few exceptions, there was the usual type of work. We had no audits (IRS or any other kind).
• Website. Mark and I joined efforts. He worked on design, I worked on content. The result is OBI, the very site you are now on and reading this blog.  (Thank you, Mark. Great job!)

And I’ve read a lot, as usual. Happy Money is the one book that stands out for me this year. Maybe because I whole-heartily agree with most of what the authors write about. I especially agree with one of the key messages of the book: buy experiences rather than buying more and more things.

Wishing you all a

Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Mariana Fieraru

Mariana Fieraru, an Eastern European transplant, fell in love with her new home shortly after landing in New York. She "discovered" pizza! Years later she still loves pizza. And so do her two feathered-kids, Sunny and Flipper

Mariana worked on both, the east and the west coast.
Big or small, each project she worked on helped define the importance of gaining and sustaining a competitive edge in an increasingly complex business environment.

Business know-how, love of teaching and writing – all combined in 2006 to form OBI.
Its mission: to make learning fun! And easy.

Through its training, consulting, and publications OBI builds bridges of knowledge to take you from where you are to
where you want to go. Using a mix of serious, informal, analytical, and optimistic approach, OBI truly makes learning fun.

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