4 things that I learned in 2014

Each year, at the end of December, I like to look back at the year, summarize it and set a roadmap for the following one. It’s a great tradition that my wife came up with 5 years ago (thanks love). It helps me see how successful am I at living my life. This summary, however, is only a list of facts what happened in the past and what I want to happen in the future. The most important is to analyze those fact and LEARN. That’s what made me realize my strengths, weaknesses and opportunities to improve.

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Podio pack for small business

I believe that every business has its own specifics, what means that there usually isn’t an off-the shelf software that takes care of everything you need and is affordable at the same time. I described the process that I use in Mosaic Media in my last post about managing small business finances. I do it in Podio, what I really like, because it’s very flexible and lets me set things up as I need them. I promised to share the pack that I use with you and I’m happy to say, that Podio liked it and added it to the app market. So feel free to try it out and let me know how it helped you – https://podio.com/market/packs/58085.

Manage your small business finance with Podio

I bet that you use Excel or Google spreadsheets to track your projects, payments and also purchase orders for your contractors. I agree that it’s pretty simple and the best way to start. It gives you the basic insight of how you are doing. Apart from that, you should be able to see which payments are due and how much did you spend on outsourcing. This will work well until you team starts growing or you need detailed information about the projects. What if you have too much work and need to drop some clients? You should keep the most profitable ones. I’m going to tell you how to do it in Podio and why do I prefer it. Continue reading Manage your small business finance with Podio

The business model canvas template for Google spreadsheet

The Business Model Canvas, is a strategic management and entrepreneurial tool. It allows you to describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot your business model. It’s pretty simple to create it. Just find the PDF or PSD, print it, put on the wall and use sticker notes. And you’re done. But what would you do when you need to work on it with the team that is remote? Printing it obviously wouldn’t work, because you don’t want to do conference calls and point the camera to your wall. I’ve got a solution for it.

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This is life

(I found this on my laptop, it’s a thing which I wrote about a year ago)

I’m on the plane. I look outside the window and everything is the same. I see only clouds and water. I’ve realised, that I’m fulfilling one of my dreams. One of my biggest childhood’s dreams. We all have dreams and desires. Even big and unreal. But are they really unreal? No, they are NOT (unless the dream isn’t to fly like Superman). There are people who could fulfill their dreams already. So everyone can, we can. It’s not about their luck. It’s about us.

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A simple rule that helps you make your growing to do list smaller

You are looking forward to spending this day at work, because your task list is pretty empty and no issues are waiting for you. So you make plans to leave earlier and take your girlfriend to a fancy dinner or iron all the shirts for your husband. But what happens when you open the mailbox when you come to the office? A lot of mails, even more requests and what is the worst, each of them totally different. You heart beat doubles and you started feeling anxious. You’ve been for that for quite a long time so you don’t want to change the plans for the evening. But you think that you haven’t got another chance. You are wrong, you have. Sounds unbelievable? Read further.

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Do you also waste money on Facebook promotions?

I don’t remember how many times did I click a Facebook ad, which took me to the canvas app asking me authorize it immediately. Even before I saw the landing page of the application. But I do remember, how many times did I go through. ZERO! Why would I? I have no idea what is the application about. It usually asks me to provide my email address as well, not explaining why. Do you give your email address to anyone? No, you don’t. And do you know what’s the worst about it?

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How to understand project management in 5 minutes?

Project management is almost like sex or social media marketing. Everyone thinks that they know how to do it right and that they are good at it. Well, are you that sure? I’ve started writing an e-book, which really helps you understand project management and get better in it. I’ll also tell you how use it also outside the office to do your day to day tasks more effective. When we want to get better in something, we need to know a bit about what it is, right? This part of my e-book is already written, so I’ve decided to share it with you. Keep reading… Continue reading How to understand project management in 5 minutes?

An ultimate guide to screwing up a small project

Let’s image a pretty common situation. You’ve just found a client who needs you to do a small job. You are pretty happy, because you know that it can be ready on a week or two and you are dazzled with the vision of quick money. So you talk to the client on the phone and send them an email with a short description of the project. It’s a small one and you don’t want to waste a whole day on writing the specification, preparing wireframes and going through the approval process with the client. But…

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3 easy steps to choose the right freelancer

PartnershipFreelancers are pretty good at selling themselves and making them look better than they are. The competition is pretty high, so they need to stand out for a chance to get a good project. The problem is, that they focus more on getting the job than on working, what hurts your project and wastes your time and money. There are few easy steps which let you test freelancers trying to get your job. They help you separate the wheat from the chaff. Are you ready?

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