FROM THE PUBLISHER

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Moving Through Today, Reaching Forward to Tomorrow

What do you normally do at the beginning of each new year? Set up the new business plan? Make resolutions about changes in your personal life? Cry over how much money you spent over the holiday season? Reject getting on the scale because you already know….your clothes do not fit anymore! 2020 brought many changes to our lives, both personally and professionally. Now we find ourselves in 2021 wondering when will we have some kind of “normal”. I propose that we stop looking for normal and start taking action to move through today successfully. In order to do that we must look back before 2020. Why? Because how we moved through 2020 depended on what we had already built, both personally and professionally. This is an opportunity to really assess your business from a 365-degree view. Ask yourself the hard questions. Acknowledge what was weak, celebrate what was strong, and then make a plan that is measurable. Remember that old acronym, SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely). Keep the timeframe short. Technology is changing so quickly that keeping to no more than two years for a long-term goal is just about right. The assessment is the key that helps you “Move Through Today”, the SMART goals are what help you “Reach Forward to Tomorrow”. Does your assessment reveal that you do not have a proper handle on the financials? No problem, IBPSA is here to help you. Do you not know what KPIs you should be watching right now? Maybe you do not even know what a KPI is. No problem, IBPSA is here to help you. Do you have challenges with your facility from a building perspective and you are not sure where to turn? No problem, IBPSA can help with that. How does IBPSA help you with all of these? By building a community where you can ask questions and get answers from other members. By sponsoring a Facebook group, Thrive, where we deep dive weekly into issues that are affecting you and your business. By fulfilling our mission and being available when you call for help finding an answer, vendor or consultant, you can be assured that the people we connect you with are knowledgeable in the industry. This is the ROI (Return on Investment) on your membership, a team of people who are working to be sure you have access to information you need. This edition features five Ibby award winners that continued to move forward during COVID and started reaching for tomorrow. I hope they inspire you to continuing reaching and improving this year.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Thank you for your support of IBPSA as we support the industry.

Carmen Rustenbeck Publisher, Pet Care Pro Quarterly Founder & CEO, IBPSA International Boarding & Pet Services Association