If you think of all the choices you’ve made and all the different roads you might have gone down, does it ever make you wonder about the decisions you’ve made and the ones you’re about to make?

I came to Toronto in the early eighties. I was a full time musician at that point in my life and against the advice of pretty much everyone I knew, I came to Toronto to give my music career another try. Not having any resources at the time, I needed to get to work immediately and I called on the one and only contact I had in Toronto. He connected me with someone in Bowmanville that needed a guitar player the very next day. For the next two years, I worked as a full-time sideman in various bands that played the local circuit.

At one point and time, I auditioned for two different groups on the same day (both with female vocalists). One was “blues” and about to tour Western Canada. The other was “country” and about to tour Eastern Canada. I nailed both auditions and could have had either gig. I struggled with the decision, but being from New Brunswick originally, I thought it made more sense to go east.

In short order, I ended up managing the band and supplying the truck and PA system. This extra responsibility and income soon turned into a liability when our crooked music agent took me for pretty much everything I had. I ended up marrying the female singer in that band, had two kids together, and the music career went on hold for 25 years. Two years ago I got back at it, on a part time basis and I’m having a hoot at it.

That decision to go east instead of west, almost 3 decades ago, certainly impacted my life in a big way.  I have made hundreds of life shaping decisions since then…we all have. It does make me think sometimes, that the deck of cards we are given are full of “wild cards” that we can choose to play or not. Maybe, the more wild cards we play, the more interesting our journey becomes.

 Lee’s Quote for the Day

“When you’re at a fork in the road and deciding whether to go left or right, every now and then, choose the direction that scares you the most, hang on tight and enjoy the ride.” 

We had our new Yellow Pages delivered this morning. Hooray! Apparently 550 million of them were delivered in the USA as recently as last year.
The half dozen copies we received, weighing in at 30 lbs,  will go directly into our recycle bin. Last fall there were hundreds
delivered to the mail room at our 25 story condo in Toronto. I never saw anyone pick them up and I believe the majority were recycled as well.

So what’s the scoop? Advertising is still being sold aggressively and the book still appears to be pretty thick. I can understand bars, restaurants and the local payphone using them to a point but don’t most people have cell phones with internet access?

Yellow Pages can post big circulation numbers but actual usage? I still occasionally use the online version but I can’t remember the last time I cracked open the actual book. How about you? Is the horse dead or is it just not running at a full gallop? By the way, did you know the reason they are yellow?  A hundred years ago the printer ran out of white paper. How’s that for innovation?

As the internet and web continue to revolutionize how we communicate what lies ahead for the good old Yellow Pages. Does anybody out there use them as a reference? If you are still advertising in them can you trace business to it? Love to hear your thoughts.

Lee’s Quote for the Day

“Probably the biggest factor keeping the yellow pages alive is the fear of change and hanging on to the philosophy of “We’ve always done it that way”. It’s sad to see an icon disappear but I guess we will all share a time where we need to quietly ride off into the sunset.”

My last blog of 2011 was about turning over the captain’s chair to my staff while I took a 3 week vacation. A real vacation at that, not glued to my e-mail or solving problems from afar. I let them sail the ship and I relaxed. It was a welcome change.

If you have an experienced team, the captain is only needed when you hit rough water. Steering the ship through a crisis is a learned skill set, sharpened by experience. Whether we have fallen into a leadership position, got forced into taking the helm or arrived at it by design, the short strokes are that every ship needs a captain and every project needs a champion. Why? Because there are always storms to navigate and only one person can make that decision. No two people are likely to approach the same set of circumstances in the same manner. As my older brother likes to say, “There are lots of right answers”.

When I started my business 24 years ago, my older brother’s advice was… don’t do it. He had been in business for a decade already and knew the perils I would face. I believe it was something I was meant to do and as I may have stated before, being overly optimistic and somewhat naive are fundamental qualities of being in business for yourself.

I’ve seen a lot of businesses fail. Solid companies with hard working owners – most spent too much money on the wrong things at the wrong time. Many fell behind with tax remittances. Some coasted when they should have forged ahead. Some forged ahead only to have a dramatic shift in technology or market conditions do them in. I feel very fortunate that my business is solid as we march into 2012.

For anyone thinking of starting their own business or are in business already and questioning their direction, here are 5 tips that people have shared with me and I know to be true:

1. Don’t bog yourself down with things you’re not good at. Hire the right people to fill the gaps.
2. Banks never give you money when you need it. Always increase your credit line when you don’t need it so that it’s there when you need it most.
3. Prepare yourself to work longer hours, take fewer vacations and have more stress than you will ever have working for someone else.
4. Prepare for the worst and expect the best is appropriate advice and trusting your instincts is critical to successful decision making.
5. Last but not least, the right decision is always the hardest until you make it… after you make it, you will wonder why you hadn’t done it sooner.

Lee’s quote for the day

“You’ll know when you’re going in the right direction by the number of hills you climb, obstacles you overcome and forks in the road that require decisions to be made.”