I Resolve…Ten Resolutions Every Founder Should Make

Matt Homann

I wrote these resolutions two careers (and three companies) ago. As each year comes to a close, I take another look at them. This year, I’d like to share them with you.

  1. Resolve to be better to everyone. Start with yourself.
  2. Resolve to choose your customers as carefully as friends, knowing that you’ll work best when they’re one in the same.
  3. Resolve to know your business better. Recognize that being good at what you do is unimportant if you’re not good at being in the business you’re in.
  4. Resolve to stop doing the things your customers don’t pay you to do, unless you love doing them so much, you’d do them for free. Because you are.
  5. Resolve to value your life by the things you experience instead of the things you possess.
  6. Resolve to eliminate the things in your life that wake you up in the middle of the night — unless you’re married to them, or they need to go outside for a walk.
  7. Resolve to become more useful to your customers. Stop thinking about what they expect from you, and focus instead on what they don’t expect from you.
  8. Resolve to help the people who work with you (and for you) become better at what they do. Give them what they need to excel at their jobs, and you’ll find you’re more likely to excel at yours.
  9. Resolve to understand the difference between what you do for clients and how long you take to do it. They care about the former, and can’t understand why you charge for the latter.
  10. Resolve to do the work you long to do, instead of the work you’ve been doing for too long. Follow your passions, honor your principles and strive to add value to every relationship you’re in. “Next Year” begins now. Get started on making it great!

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