Nothing Happens by Itself
Copyright © 2021 Karl W. Palachuk
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Are Millennials Afraid of Gen Zs? |
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Millennials and Gen Z Have Their Day
It always makes me laugh when anyone of any age talks about age differences in society or work. And the older I get, the more humorous it is to hear one move generation talk about "these kids nowadays."
I point out to people that every generation has go-getters and lazy people. Every generation has geniuses and doofuses. Every generation has creativity, new ideas, and a new sense about how things should work.
For this discussion, we'll use birth years of 1981-1996 for Millennials and 1997-2012 for Gen Z. For a long time, "millennial" has been used to describe the young people entering the workforce. But it's not longer accurate as the Gen Z folk are now all well-ensconced in the world of work.
The Times article points out that Millennial managers are struggling to figure out how to manage Gen Z workers. Thus the headline The 37-Year-Olds Are Afraid of the 23-Year-Olds Who Work for Them.
Of course that's an exaggeration because you need click-baity headlines to get people to read the article. But the point is, those Millennials are now old enough to be running things. And "these kids nowadays" are now the Gen Z folks.
I disagree with a lot of the assessments in the article, but I'd love to hear your opinion. I, personally, feel like I wrote guidebook for how to work in a Gen Z-centric world. I call it Relax Focus Succeed. The gist is: If your is killing you or stifling your creativity, you need to find (or create) a new job.
My father died of a heart attack shortly before his 51st birthday. He clearly had a heart defect, so I can't say that his work killed him (although he had his first heart attack ten years earlier while carrying a Volkswagen engine from one side of the garage to the other).
But my father's early death made me realize that we have to create balance in our lives. Work IS important, and it brings meaning into our lives. But family and friends and our own selves are also important. And no one should have a horrible work environment that sucks the joy and goodness out of the rest of your life.
If Gen Z workers are asking for balance and creativity, maybe it's long overdue for all of us older people to take these things seriously. Even if some of us "older" folks are now just 37 years old.
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I'm back from Hawaii :-)
Speaking of work/life balance, I hopped over to Hawaii for a few days on a bit of a whim. I joined a Meetup.com group that does a variety of fun things. And a sub-group of those folks found a coupon for four days at the Embassy Suites in Waikiki with some bonus goodies thrown in.
I was going to be in the Los Angeles area for NexGen, so I said yes and flew direct from LA to Honolulu and joined them. I had a deal on the hotel and points on the airline, so off I went.
I'm happy to report that Hawaii is taking the Covid thing very seriously, but with proof of vaccination, you can basically do anything. And the crowds are light. Last week, new cases for the entire state were in the range of 130-140 per day.
As my friend Dave Sobel has stated on the Killing IT Podcast, travel for fun is higher priority than travel for work. But it's all tip-toeing back to normal.
I hope you can add some vacation days to your schedule as we move into the busy end-of-year and holiday season. For me, three or four days at a time works wonders.
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Calendar Updates!
Joel from over at ChannelPro sent me their calendar updates for 2022! This has been a tough year with virtual and hybrid events. Next year, the plan is to go back to Live events for the ChannelPro SMB Summits.
If you have calendar updates re: In-person events, please send them to me.
Have a great week. - Karl P.
:-)
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NSITSP Meeting Scheduled! |
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Mark you calendar and join us
NSITSP General Membership Meeting
November 17, 2021
9:00 AM Pacific / Noon Eastern
There has been a LOT of activity. We have a very active Board of Directors and three active committees. We might even have a fourth committee by November 17th.
In this meeting, we'll introduce the Board and the Committee chairs. The Board will report on the state of the organization, where we are, and what we hope to do next.
And, of course, we'll have an open Q&A session.
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NSITSP on Social Media
We have created pages or accounts on the following social media. These will be used to broadcast news and get the word out. Please take a minute to follow each of these and share them with your friends and contacts.
Facebook Page:
LinkedIn Page:
Twitter:
And, of course, you can always find the NSITSP home page at www.nsitsp.org.
NOW is a great time to do this.
Thank you.
:-)
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Audible - Great stuff, but be careful |
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Audible is a truly great service. Whether you don't enjoy reading, or simply want to consume books while doing other things (driving, gardening, etc.), audio books are an excellent option.
Personally, I love audio books and actually reading physical books. I have discovered that if I really enjoy an audio book, I will probably buy the paper version so I can take notes in the margins and annotate to my personal specifications.
BUT - Let me give you a few cautionary notes from the author-publisher perspective.
First: Once published on Audible, a book cannot be removed for a specific period of time. That's fine . . . until you come out with a new edition. I cannot remove old editions of my books from Audible. Period.
Lesson: Buyer beware. Do a little research and make sure you're buying the newest edition.
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Second: Don't panic too much. If you bought an old edition, contact the author. Today, almost every author has legit contact information in their book. It might be an email or a web site. But you can contact them.
Explain that you bought the old edition and ask if they can help you get the newer audio edition. In my experience, 100% of authors I've contacted have sent me the revised edition. It's usually in one or more MP3 files. I can play it in Audible, but that's fine with me.
Note: If you recently bought the older audio version of any of my books after a new version was released, send me an email. We'll send you the new files.
Authors essentially "have to" distribute on Amazon and Audible. They're the 8,000 pound gorilla. But that means we have to play by their rules.
So whether it's me or another author, don't be shy about asking.
:-)
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Rayanne's Always-Awesome Finance Class! |
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You only missed two weeks. Sign up now.
Catch up and join us live tomorrow.
Financial Processes for the IT Services Firm
Course 5W07
Taught By: Rayanne Buchianico
Five Tuesdays
- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific
You're guaranteed to learn something that will make or save you the price of admission!
There are few things more important than the finances of your business. But most technology consultants didn't get into business to run balance sheets or figure out cash flow.
This class provides unique content from a unique teacher! Rayanne is a managed service provider from Tampa, FL. She is also an accountant and an Intuit certified ProAdvisor. In addition to her MSP business, Rayanne helps I.T. consultants to take control of their finances and understand their own business at a deeper level.
Topics for this class include:
- Learn to read and understand your Balance Sheet and P&L Statements
- Create a chart of accounts that makes sense for your business
- Separating out information on the P&L for management decisions
- Entities and tax considerations - understanding how your entity is taxed. Handout is a tax projection worksheet for this year's taxes
- Cash flow forecasting - Handout is a cash flow projection spreadsheet to forecast revenues and expenses
- Understanding margins and ratios - Deep dive into the P&L and Balance Sheet to understand how the numbers work together to make decisions. Handout is a worksheet on calculating and understanding the ratios & margins.
- Use margins to price your services for profit
- Calculate billing and burden rates
- Action plans for success
. . . and More!
Week One: Introduction to Your Company’s Finances
Week Two: Cash Flow Forecasting
Week Three: Margins, Ratios, KPIs, and Breakeven points
Week Four: Jobs, Budgeting, and Internal Controls
Week Five: Planning for Taxes
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Only $299 per student
Delivered by Rayanne Buchianico, Financial Coach and QuickBooks Advisor. Rayanne has been an MSP - managed service provider - for many years and advises MSPs on how to get the most out of their QuickBooks and PSA integrations.
Includes five weeks of webinars with related handouts, assignments, and "office hours" with the instructor. All classes are recorded for download. All classes include suggested "homework" that is totally action-focused and intended to move your company's marketing forward.
This course is intended for business owners and managers. It is particularly useful for front office and financial managers.
A Few Details . . .
- Each course will be five one-hour Zoom webinars
- There will be handouts and "homework" assignments
- Class webinars will be recorded and made available to paid attendees only.
- All calls start at 9:00 AM Pacific Time
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All the Resources That Are Fit to Print |
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Recent Blog Posts, Podcasts, and Videos |
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Small Biz Thoughts Blog:
SMB Community Podcast - New episodes drop every Thursday
The Killing IT Podcast - New episodes drop every Tuesday
The Cheeky Sales Coach Podcast / Video - Final episode posted !!!
National Society of IT Service Providers News Blog
Relax Focus Succeed:
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SOP - Working with People We Like |
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Selected Recent Videos and Webinars:
A quick guide to my Playlists:
- Total: More than 770 videos on the Small Biz Thoughts channel
- 315+ SOP videos
- 100+ Relax Focus Success videos
Plus . . .
- Training, Courses, Seminars on Managed Services
- Product Reviews
- and more
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Small Biz Thoughts Community News
SmallBizThoughts.org
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Members: Grab Your Downloads! |
No matter what you're looking for, we've probably got it in the Community!
Whether it's recorded classes, model SOPs, or sales material, we've got it!
If you're looking for something and can't find it, please send me an email (and cc Kara in case I'm backlogged).
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Amy Luby on SBT Roundtable November 4th
Amy Luby is the Acronis Channel Evangelist. But that's not why we're having her on the Roundtable.
Amy is also one of the true pioneers of the Managed Services business model. She built one of the first pure-play MS businesses.
Way back in the day, we shared the stage many times, evangelizing the business model. All members should join us for the November Roundtable. I think you'll love it.
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Our monthly newsletter drops on the final Friday of the month, so the November Community Newsletter went out last Friday. If you're a member and it's not in your inbox, contact us and we'll figure it out.
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Remember your massive class discounts! Whether you're a monthly or annual subscriber, do yourself a favor and sign up for classes over at Great Little Seminar. You save 3x or 4x the cost of your membership, depending on your plan.
:-)
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The Seasick Bags Were Free
But the display rack made me laugh.
On a boat in Waikiki harbor.
:-)
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What's Here?
This calendar lists two kinds of things: LIVE in-person events from any organization that focuses on the SMB consulting community; and MY events, whether live, webinar, etc.
If you have live events on your calendar that may be useful to others in the SMB Community, please let us know. We'd be happy to list them.
Of course: Everything here is subject to change based on Covid. Click the links for the latest details. Please send updates so we can post them.
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November
Channel Partners Evolution
Nov. 1-4
Las Vegas, NV
Managed Services Summit Live
November 2nd
Amsterdam
Kaseya Connect Europe
Nov. 2-4
Amsterdam
ASCII Success Summit
November 2 & 3
Washington, DC
IT Nation Connect North America
November 10-12
Orlando, FL
IT Nation (Connectwise) Evolve Peer Groups
November 15-19
Sydney, Aus
Managed Services Summit North
November 16th
Manchester, UK
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Now Virtual
Nov 16, 2021
Women of the Channel Summit West 2021
November 16-17
Palm Springs, CA
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
November 18-19
Schaffhausen, Switzerland
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December
Women of the Channel Summit East 2021
December 6-7
New York, NY
ASCII Success Summit
Orange County, CA - December 8 & 9
Join me Live!
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
December 8-9
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Event
Dallas, TX
Dec 9-10th
SMB Roadshow - Las Vegas!
Las Vegas, NV
Dec 14th
Join Me Live!
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If you know of in-person events we should list, please let us know.
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January
Send us your updates!
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February
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
February 17 - 18, 2022
Singapore, Singapore
Xchange+
February 27 - March 1, 2022
Dallas, TX
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March
Cloud Expo Europe
March 2-3, 2022
London, UK
ChannelPro SMB Summit
New Jersey
March 9th
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April
Send us your updates!
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May
ChannelPro SMB Summit
Chicago
May 5th
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June
ChannelPro SMB Summit
Texas
June 7th
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July
Send us your updates!
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August
CompTIA ChannelCon 2022
August 1-3, 2022
Houston, TX
More Info: Coming after ChennelCon 2021 ;-)
ChannelPro SMB Summit
Charlotte NC
Aug 9
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September
ChannelPro SMB Summit
Baltimore
Sept 13th
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October
Always a busy month. Send me events when you know them.
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November
ChannelPro SMB Summit
So Calif
Nov 3rd
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Note: If you know of any in-person event for SMB Consultants, please send info to karlp@greatlittlebook.com. |
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Small Biz Thoughts is a subsidiary of Great Little Book Publishing Co., Inc. |
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