Benjamin Frankin opined that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Each spring, boaters invest hours of prevention to ward off expensive days of cure. I won't bore you with the details of how I clean, polish, and protect 23 feet of fiberglass and metal, but imagine two four-gallon buckets full of cleaning products designed for the harsh marine environment and dozens of terrycloth and microfiber rags to apply and remove them. So far, I've invested four long days in preparing the boat for the 2017 season while friends are catching dozens of striped bass each day and filing their taxes.
Why do I block out these four days in my calendar each April? Because, at the beginning of its fourth season, the boat looks brand new. We've kept our asset looking as good as it can for something that spends 8+ months each year floating in saltwater. The constant compliments reinforce our reputation for keeping a boat in "Bristol condition" - a reference to the English port that produced the finest ships in the world.
Now that I'm done waxing the boat, I'm going to clean, polish, and protect the appearance of my consulting practice, in which I coach professionals through the sales, marketing, and business development processes. I'm going to strip down and re-varnish my website, detail my elevator pitch, and polish my business cards to better reflect who I am and what I do.
I'm not alone in this effort. I know a partner in a small firm who just launched a new personal website focused on his representation of local businesses, especially breweries. It's a great project in which I wish every lawyer would invest some web and content dollars.
As well, my brother has done an excellent job polishing our charitable effort, Team I Hate Cancer, led by his cycling team's lightning-fast kits and our iconic t-shirts. It's a brand that excites a lot of people and allows us to raise a lot of money to support families facing a cancer diagnosis.
If you're thinking about how your business looks to current and prospective clients this spring, let's pool some resources and make sure that all of our practices are as shiny as they can be - in "Bristol condition" as they say.