July 1 marks the first day of our fiscal year, and it always provides a good opportunity to reflect, reorient and redirect our efforts as a business. I find it interesting because this business event comes in close proximity to the 4th of July, a celebration of freedom and independence.

One of the best things about small business is the fact that we have such freedom and independence to do what we think is right with our organizations. I took this for granted until my brother Ben came to work for us a few years back, after spending many years working for a large corporation. He manages our e-newsletter program, and he couldn’t get over the fact that a client could call us on a Monday and, in many cases, we had their newsletter created, revised, approved and distributed by Tuesday. It made me realize that my business - and probably yours - can be MUCH more nimble than larger companies and that we have the freedom to address our clients’ needs immediately, without waiting for someone else to give it the stamp of approval. That’s tremendously valuable, both to our clients and to us as service providers who want to make our clients happy.

The same thing applies looking forward, too. As our new year starts, we get to pause for a second and think about what's been working, what hasn’t been working, what needs to change, and what we should keep doing at all costs. You have that same freedom (even if your fiscal year isn’t over yet). What’s been working? What do you need to do more of? If business isn’t where you want it, now’s a great time to be advertising for summer and fall work. If you feel like you need to reconnect with your customers, now’s a great time to institute a communication program with e-mail newsletters. As a small business, you have the option to do these things now. 

So here’s to American freedom and specifically the freedom each of us has to forge our own path. Happy 4th of July - and Happy New Year!