This year, however, there needs to be a small shift in where that aforementioned laser focus should be.  A consequence of what we'll refer to as a global situation, the lines between work and home life have become unbelievably blurred.  Work from home, virtual meetings, unusual office hours, labour shortages, the list goes on and on.  Suffice it to say, even BMI has not been immune to work becoming a perpetual event that does not stay confined to office hours.  More important than ever, then, becomes the BMI concept of Wellth.  The concept of holistic success, of work-life balance, of separating and keeping work at work and home at home, is something that is getting lost in the shuffle of the constantly shifting work environment and various rules, regulations, and habits.  It is the most difficult but most important thing that anyone can do this season to help move their business forward.

Take, then, the time to plan your holidays to be real holidays.  A holiday needn't be extravagant, expensive, involve travel, weeks-long, or 'doing' things.  All it need be is a dedicated time to unplug, relax, recuperate, and catch up on some of the critically important (but never urgent) things that may have been put to the backburner.  Things like spending time with friends and family, time spent on hobbies and enjoyable activities, time spent enjoying life.  Things that make life fulfilling, and the things that seem to suffer because work has urgency and demands.  Take the time to reflect on what you're working for, the goals you are trying to achieve, the dreams you are passionately trying to fulfill; take the time to well and truly relax, so that you are renewed and ready to face whatever comes your way.

If you find yourself completely unable to take that time, then that unto itself should be cause for pause and reflection.  Working yourself to death is not your purpose, even if the world should like to posit that it is.  And if you find yourself in that position, perhaps it is time to reach out and employ resources to relieve you of that burden.

From all of your BMI family, have a joyous, holy, and wonderful Christmas, and a very happy new year.  Here's to 2022, and another year of success, prosperity, and achievement.

- Your BMI family

BMI's clients and prospective-market business owners understand that they are always, at least in some way, competing against behemoth companies such as Amazon, McDonalds, Disney, and Walmart. Indeed, we regularly acknowledge that these mega-players continually frame and reset consumer expectations so that the little guy must step-up his game. However, they are under no illusions that they have to win on all fronts. The economies of scale and resources possessed by the biggest corporations in the market enable pricing strategies and customer service processes that are very difficult for SMEs to duplicate. So, instead, BMI's community leverages the advantages inherent in being smaller, such as greater local market intelligence, more agile management that can quickly pivot when market forces dictate change, and a passion for their product and service that pervades throughout their entire teams.

But, there's more: BMI's business community members understand that their sustainability and ultimate success does not depend on being able to beat the world's largest companies. They need only beat weak competitors of any size.

You know that old joke about not being able to outrun a grizzly bear? If not, consider this as your spoiler alert. The punchline reveals the somewhat coldhearted wisdom of one camper telling another that he doesn't have to outrun the bear, he only needs to outrun his fellow camper. We see this as an analogue for competing in business. Our businesses can flourish while grizzly-esque companies like Amazon gobble up the weakest competitors in the market. In fact, the biggest "predators" in the economy have a symbiotic relationship with well-managed SMEs. A carcass leftover by a grizzly provides ample residual nourishment for several other species lower on the food chain, such as coyotes, ravens, rodents, and insects. Similarly, while enforcing economic natural selection, corporate grizzlies leave significant remnants of market share available to be gained by the strongest SMEs. 

The next time you become discouraged or disillusioned by the thought of trying to survive in a business environment dominated by economic apex predators, remember that you don't need to outrun the grizzly; you need only outrun the weakest members in the market. And, if you need some assistance in ensuring that your business is a strong competitor, reach out to BMI. Naively assuming that the human resources, marketing, administrative, accounting, customer service, and software strategies that you've always used will continue to suffice may be the metaphorical equivalent of wearing flip-flops around the campsite while BMI helps other campers lace up their running shoes!

- Michael J. Bickert