I hate New Year's resolutions. I admit it.

So many go unfulfilled and then you feel even worse about not meeting a certain goal.

But I don't think there's anything wrong with taking a step back and reevaluating how you run your business.

If you don't, it could be another ho hum year.

Bob Fila / KRT file

To help you craft a 2008 to do list, I'm including these great resolutions for entrepreneurs by a New York City consulting firm called Citrin Cooperman.

They make a lot of sense. Do with them what you will.

   1. Work "on" your business, not "in" your business.  (Don't get overly caught up in the day-to-day details of your business every day.  Give yourself sufficient time – one day a week, for example -- to work on the macro issues that affect your business and will ultimately drive the business forward.)

   2. Reevaluate your relationships with key vendors to ensure you're receiving the best value.  (Businesses grow and change over time; the vendors chosen five years ago may have been the right ones at the time, but perhaps it's time for a change.)

   3. Create a 2008 budget, which forecasts the upcoming year's revenues and expenses and analyze these projections as appropriate, typically on a monthly basis.  (The budget should be detailed enough to project revenues by client as well as new sources of revenue, as well as costs by department.)  

   4. Create a trusted circle of advisors and use them regularly.  (Some entrepreneurs may want to appoint a "Board of Directors," while others may opt for a more informal group of outside advisors with keen business acumen.  The point is to avoid going it alone.  Bounce ideas off this group to receive independent advice.)
   
   5. Track the sources of new business, such as referrals, marketing efforts, word-of-mouth, etc., more diligently to get a better handle on the sources of your new business.  (Most business owners have a sense this, but without monitoring it closely, it's impossible to take appropriate actions to enhance these new business streams.)

   6. Assess where your strategic plan; and if you don't have one in place – create one.  (Many businesses have three- or five-year plan that gets crafted with care.  Unfortunately, business owners often get lost in the day-to-day details of running their businesses and don't revisit this plan. Consequently, they can't make the decisions they need to stay on course.)

   7. Commit to a monthly review of sales generated by products and/or services offered by your firm.  (Strong sales in one product can mask weak sales elsewhere and drag down overall profits.  If information is tracked, decisions can be made as to whether improve slumping products or eliminate them from the mix.)

   8. Set up a schedule of meetings with your key business advisors, such as your banker, accountant and attorney.  (You may want to meet with your banker quarterly to review your capital needs; your accountant monthly to review revenues and costs vs. budget projections; and your attorney twice yearly to review risks.)
   
   9. Business owners should update estate trusts and family tax planning strategies, including the maximization of pension plan deferrals. (As families grow or change and new tax laws are put in place, trusts and tax strategies need to be amended appropriately.)

  10. Reevaluate your firm's major policies, procedures and operations.  (What seemed good policy five years ago when the business had 12 employees is most likely no longer appropriate for your 100-employee organization.)

The tragic story of a kind man who used a portable toilet one day in a park and ended up paralyzed inspired nearly 90 small business owners to embark on one charitable mission.

For six weeks, plumbers, roofers, and painters, just to name a few, worked hard at transforming Pedro Toala's home into an accessible dream house. This former bus driver was the victim of what was deemed a prank, when a bunch of kids tipped over the portable toilet he was using in Wilmington, Delaware.

His story got lots of press attention locally, and many were moved when he forgave the men who ended up breaking his spine.

How were so many busy small business owners able to join forces and do something good for Toala?

It was Pedro's story, says Cher Przelomski, who spearheaded the project and is co owner of the Planning Factory International, a corporate special events company that employs six.

The Planning Factory reached a milestone this year, having been in business for 25 years, but instead of throwing a party the owners decided they'd rather get involved in a community service project.

"I thought we could apply our skills of planning and coordination and do something and suddenly it dawned on me…it was Pedro. We needed to rebuild his house," she says.

That's how  the "Pedro Project" was born.

Toala lived in a split-level home and was unable to get to certain floors because he was now in a wheelchair.

Przelomski started calling everyone she knew and even people she didn't know to ask for help. Everyone said yes, "except one t-shirt guy."

A local construction firm called Wohlsen oversaw the building, a high-end furniture store, Pala Brothers supplied the furniture, and the list goes on and on.

William Hart, senior project manager for Wohlsen, was moved by Toala's story, especially since construction workers spend lots of time in portable toilets at job sites. "That could have been any one of us," he says.

We typically hear about how large companies throw money at charitable causes, but small business owners rarely get the attention they deserve. It is true, a smaller company has fewer hours and dollars to spare, but it can happen if you put your mind to it.

"You can get involved. You can spare the time," says Przelomski. "The way I looked at this, it was a short-term project."

And she also admits she was quite the taskmaster, making sure all the businesses involved stayed to the tight six-week schedule they had laid out at the beginning of the project. "I created a production schedule, day by day, what was happening and who was doing it," she explains.

I asked her how much money and time her firm has shelled out. She laughed out loud and said, "it's impossible to calculate. I've been off for the last six weeks working on this."

So what did Toala say when he saw his revamped home with brand new furniture and a new kitchen:  "Dios mio!" "Oh, my God?" "I don't believe it. I can't believe this." "Thank you, thank you, thank you." (This according to a news account in the local paper.)

How did Przelomski feel when she saw Toala crying?

"I was so proud we were able to pull the community together and rebuild the house and give him a more livable, workable life," she says.

What happens if you take a job in your spouse's family business and then you realize you want out?

Tough luck buddy, you're stuck.

Well, that's not entirely true. You can get out but expect some hard feelings, especially if you've been complaining and family feuds are starting to percolate.

I got a letter from a reader recently that exemplifies a common problem when it comes to family businesses – it's hard to just up and leave.

Mark wrote me the following:

"I left a job to work for my wife's Aunt and Uncle in a totally different career field, which includes packing up and moving my family but I feel I have wasted 2 years of my life and it is very frustrating. With out going into detail everything that was discussed and agreed upon before accepting the job has flown out the window and ultimately I need to get out for my mental and physical well being. What advice do you have for a situation like this? I want to get back into the field I was in but I am facing the hurdle of being out of it for 2 years!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you for your time."

I figured I needed to consult big guns to answer poor Mark's question. So I called Joseph H. Astrachan,  a family business guru and professor at Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University.

His first piece of advice was brilliant. Talk to your wife and make sure she's on board with your decision to leave.

Once that happens, figure out what the business needs for you to step out of your position, Astrachan maintains. If that means finding a new employee to fill your shoes then so be it. And don't leave until that person is really ready to take on your role.

With your plan in hand, head to the table with the aunt and uncle.

Tell them, Astrachan advises, "I'm very unhappy and it's not in everybody's long-term interest for me to continue to be here."

I was worried that Mark's in-laws would feel slighted because he's dogging the very company they put their hearts and souls into.

To that, Astrachan says, Mark has to be diplomatic in how he conveys his unhappiness and his decision to move on. You can use words like, "I love what you do, but I don't love doing what you do."

And for those of you out there that are thinking of joining a family business, Astrachan says you should make sure the expectations for the job and compensation are very clear.

"With family members it's taken for granted that they'll make good on their promises, some day," he adds. "Unfortunately, a family member is the least likely to complain and unlike a non-family business you just can't walk away."

A friend of mine told me that her boss invited her and a bunch of other employees to his house for a holiday party.

It was a nice gesture, until she found out she had to cook something for the soiree. If any of the invitees were at a loss on what to bring, the boss gave them a food assignment.

Have we all lost our minds?

I like potluck as much as the next guy, but don't your workers do enough for you during the year? Why the heck would you assign them yet more work when they're supposed to be letting down their hair and relaxing?

Turns out, the evening was tense, and most employees couldn't wait until the night ended. The day after my friend was still harboring resentment that she had to make like Julia Childs.

Another buddy of mine had the opposite experience.

A high level manager at her company invited her and her husband to a dinner at a fancy restaurant. The guy even brought bottles of expensive wine from his own private cellar to imbibe his employees.

She came home slightly inebriated and with a glow about the manager. "It felt great, especially since he took the time to choose wines from his special reserves and the stories he told about the wines wove into our work somehow. The personal touch was the best part for me," she says.

So, which of my friends do you think will "over deliver" for their boss in the New Year?

I put "over deliver" in quotes because I recently attended the Massachusetts Conference for Women and Jack Welch, the former CEO for GE, spoke about how workers need to "over deliver" for their bosses if they're going to climb the ladder of success.

Great sentiment.

But sometimes the boss has to do some over-delivering. Or at least not expect workers to slave away in the kitchen when the big guy invites them to celebrate a year well done.

That doesn't mean you should let your employees go wild.

I found a funny list of "don'ts" for small business owners when it comes to holiday parties from a London-based small business site called Bytestart.

Here are the best of the bunch:

"Tables and photocopiers: Dancing on desks is likely to cause damage to property and people. It amounts to misuse of company property. Make it clear that such activities will not be tolerated or that certain parts of the office are out of bounds on the night of the party."

"Decorating the office: Use a stepladder to put up decorations – not a swivel chair, warned the Trades Union Congress and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents recently. Don't hang the tinsel on computers or other sources of heat; and don't decorate emergency exit signs."

"Misguided by mistletoe: Your staff policies on bullying and harassment and discrimination still apply at the office party. This is one reason why mistletoe is dangerous.

The laws on discrimination apply at the office party regardless of location. So when one man told a female colleague, 'You look worth one' at an after-work leaving event taking place in a local pub, the tribunal had little difficulty in ruling that it was in the course of employment and therefore discriminatory."

And finally, the gifts --

"If telling people to bring a Secret Santa gift, ask that all gifts are inoffensive. Some gifts – notably underwear and sex toys – have sparked complaints in the past."

It just seems like life's more fun in England.

It's the time of year when people throw reality out the window and daydream about getting everything they've always wanted.

Why not health care reform?

A national small business group crafted a health care wishlist of sorts and I hope it ends up registering with more than just Santa. There's not a lot he can do for this nation's ailing health care system from the North Pole. And anyway, he typically goes on a long vacation after his big night.

Bernd Settnik / EPA

The National Federation of Independent Business this week came out with a core values list, including everything from universal coverage to privatization. I know I know. Sounds like a clash of ideas, but they're dreaming big.

The list will be used as guide for the NFIB to develop "more specific, actionable policy initiatives that will be explored by policy makers moving forward."

This is the heart of the issue -- will this nation be able to move forward and finally reform the health care system?

The livelihood of small businesses across the country depends on the reversal of what has been mass inertia.

So, we pile up ideas on the table, not just from advocacy groups like the NFIB, but by consumers groups and the never-ending candidates running for president.

But when will we finally move forward?

Here are some details on the NFIB's ambitious "Small Business Principles for Health Care Reform:"

Universal: All Americans should have access to quality care and protection against catastrophic costs. A government safety net should enable the neediest to obtain coverage.

Private: To the greatest extent possible, Americans should receive their health insurance and health care through the private sector. Care must be taken to minimize the extent to which governmental safety nets crowd out private insurance and care.

Affordable: Health care costs to individuals, providers, governments and businesses must be reasonable, predictable and controllable.

Unbiased: Health care and tax laws should not push Americans into employer-provided or government-provided insurance programs and hobble the market for individually purchased policies. Small employers should be treated the same as large employers, who can already pool across state lines. A health care system built on employer mandates or on play-or-pay taxes is unacceptable.

Competitive: Consumers should have many choices among insurers and providers. Policymakers must alleviate the limitations that state boundaries and treatment mandates place on competitiveness.

Portable: Americans should be able to move throughout the United States and change jobs without losing their health insurance.

Transparent: Information technology should enable all parties to access accurate, user-friendly information on costs, quality and outcomes. Providers must be able to obtain relatively complete medical histories of patients. At the same time, patients' privacy must be guarded zealously. The private sector must play a vital role in developing the new technologies.

Efficient: Health care policy should encourage an appropriate level of spending on health care. Laws, regulations and insurance arrangements should direct health care spending to those goods and services that will maximize health. Adequate risk pools throughout the health care system are vital to accomplishing these goals.

Evidence-based: The health care system must encourage consumers and providers to accumulate evidence and to use that evidence to improve health. Appropriate treatment choices and better wellness and preventive care should be key outcomes.   

Realistic: Health care reform should proceed as rapidly as possible, but not so quickly that firms and individuals cannot adjust prudently. It is important to assure that no one's quality of care suffers as we move to provide coverage for all Americans.

Do you consider yourself an ethical business owner?

Sorry, I seem to have ethics on the brain lately.

I wrote about the issue of ethics and Corporate America yesterday, but few of us think about the issue and small business.

Business fraud and general misdeeds are typically thought to be a big business issue, like Enron and Worldcom. At least you start to think that when you read the popular press. When's the last time you saw a front page newspaper story on a small business owner gone bad?

OK, maybe they are just too small potatoes to get that kind of ink, but it's definitely something all entrepreneurs should be thinking about.

So pull up a chair with me and lets have a Socratic moment.

Why should we care about ethics?

Shel Horowitz, author of the new book "Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First," offers his insights:

"First we all, we all want to have an impact on the world -- that's why we started our businesses. You want your legacy to your children to be something they're proud of and you're proud of, something that helped people to live better, more fulfilled lives. Ethical approaches enable you to focus on this.

And second, ethical businesses can be more successful. By creating an organization that others trust -- customers, suppliers, people in the community, employees -- and understanding how to market those values both internally and externally, you'll have higher employee productivity and morale, lower employee turnover, more profitable business relationships...and a steady stream of people sending work to you. People want to do business with companies that reflect their values. Businesses with a 'green' consciousness, that play fair, and that want to be good corporate citizens can easily attract more business -- as long as they understand how to present these values. We've seen this over and over again, with companies like The Body Shop, Ben & Jerry's, Johnson & Johnson, Tweezerman, Interface, Rocky Mountain Institute, many others."

OK, so it's a good thing. But how the heck do you go about making it happen?

Horowitz offers some real life tips:

1. Design your business to focus on the Magic Triangle of Honesty, Integrity, and Quality. When your company stands for  more than the bottom line, the bottom line actually increases.

2. Forget about wasting energy chopping down competitors; market share isn't even the right metric. This is why IBM opened up the PC architecture many years ago; its market share dropped-but this move created a vast expansion in the overall market (and thus IBM's PC revenues).

3. When you understand that a customer's experience of your brand is not your advertising and marketing-it's what happens when a customer attempts to do business with you -- you can channel that understanding into creating sales agents from your own customers -- people who actively refer new business to you.

This guy actually had an ethics pledge he came up with on his website.

Can you raise your right hand?

After an essay I wrote on my failed attempt to boycott Chinese products for the holidays I got a flood of email.

The bulk of it was from consumers on both sides of the China debate, but I also got a few emails from small businesses through out the United States informing me that indeed they still made their goods in the Good ol' USA.

One company even offered to send me socks for my kids.

Since I started my essay with a package of boys' socks I decided to return to Hanes because it turned out they were made in China, Jeff Lawson from sock maker Thorlos  wanted to help keep my son's feet warm.

"You and other moms may not know it but you do have a choice.  I am here to proudly say the best socks are still made in the USA by Thorlos; the company I am a part of.  If you provide me with your land mail address, I will gladly send you a pair of our kids socks for your child.  I'd love him to conduct a comfort and durability test. I will bet these will become his favorite socks and yours to as they will last way, way beyond anything your child has ever romped in."

The offer from Lawson was very generous, but being a journalist I can't accept gifts from companies.

That said, I was happy to hear that some products are still made on our shores and that means manufacturing jobs in our country. Thorlos employs about 300 people.

OK, for some reason these guys are able to keep the machines churning away in the US. They've had their share of ups and down for sure, having to layoff nearly 50 employees in September. But they are still persevering.

"We are committed to keeping 100% of our operation here in the USA despite the economic pressures to offshore.  We have made a conscious strategic decision to continue to manufacture our socks in North Carolina. Thorlos is an American family business and we will stay this way. We are dedicated to growing a powerful vibrant profitable American manufacturing based Brand."

I also got a short email from one of the owners of Pecos Pine Inc. a toy maker in Ashland, Oregon:

"Check us out! We are a 100% Handcrafted Natural Wooden Toys and Puzzles. Pecos Pine has been manufacturing toys for over 25 years. Safe and long lasting."
 
The note was from Virgie Rumsey who says business has been up for her U.S. made products since the China recalls started. The annual Christmas fair she attends was a buzz with consumer looking for domestic items, and that translated into a 20 percent rise in sales for Rumsey.

"They know our toys are safe," she adds. "Even our glue is made in the U.S."

Can an ugly entrepreneur be successful?

Not according to women entrepreneurs. At least that's the findings of a recent study of female business owners.

It's like we're living in the 1950s. Women dolling themselves up to in order to get society's approval.

David James / NewLine

I know, I might be a bit naïve here because study after study shows that attractive people are more respected and tend to get the big gigs. But when will this end? It definitely won't if women themselves perpetuate the myth.

According to a recent survey of nearly 1200 women business owners by Open from American Express:

-- 81% of women said they'd would rather sacrifice exercise or sleep than their appearance when push comes to shove and time is short.

-- Nearly all women surveyed (97%) feel that their personal appearance impacts their business success – including nearly two-thirds (64%) who put energy into looking their best, and 33% who agree that appearance impacts success but who admit they don't put much energy into it. Only 4% feel that appearance does not impact business success.

-- 80% of women under 35 say they pay attention to the latest fashion trends, making them the fashion-conscious. While they do so more to please themselves than for any other reason, they are much more likely than other respondents to say they keep up to date with the latest fashion trends because it fits with their company image.

-- A daily beauty routine is on the docket of 68% of Latinas and 59% of African American respondents – placing them at the top of those who say, "when I look good I feel good."

There is definitely something to feeling good when you look good, but I would argue that a not so attractive entrepreneur could be highly successful.

Let's face it, Bill Gates comes in low on the attracto-meter but look what he's accomplished. His unlovely looks are probably more a function of his hairdresser, but he doesn't seem to be spending hours in front of the mirror.

Don't worry I'm not going to point out a homely female business leader. Why? Because women can't take it. To be honest, I would probably crumble a bit if that happened to me. But I'm part of the problem.

Why can't we get over this look-good-at-all-costs mentality?

As the population ages, we're going to see this beauty problem only intensify as our collective butts and skin starts to sag in big numbers.

I've chosen not to dye my hair and I've already gotten hell for it. My aunt in Athens, Greece, yelled at me last time I went to visit her. "This is a disgrace," she said to me in Greek.

Look, there is nothing wrong with looking your best, but women need to get this Aphrodite chip off their shoulders.

And to all my sisters out there who were polled by American Express, if you sacrifice sleep and exercise you're ensuring a fast trip to ugly town.