I’ve been on a kick lately to collect older movies – movies that I remember as influential or just entertaining from ‘formative’ years (which probably are still going on now that I think about it).

Some of them have held up better than others (I watched the director’s cut of The Warriors recently and I was really disappointed – there are some great scenes, but it didn’t really pull together the way I remember it in college!).

Anyway, one movie that actually was better than I remembered it (and I liked it a lot the first time around) was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  With John Hughes recently passing away, I was inspired to find this and relive one of the best movies of the 80’s.

There are a lot of things Ferris can teach us – even 20+ years later.

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  photo from NASA 

Regardless of the type of business you’re in, the last 2 or 3 years have been a challenge, including the longest recession since 1929.  The good news is there are a lot of positive signs that the economy, led by small business, is ready to take off.

How do you make sure that your business takes off as well?  There’s one key ingredient that has to be there (the absence of it is the leading cause of business failures).

You have to actively plan for growth (and take action on that plan)!

Yes you have to have money, great people, solid ideas – but it all starts with a plan that makes sense…to you, to your employees, to the bank – whoever needs to know.  A plan that’s inspiring and actionable…and one that you actually do take action on!

As a business owner, or an entrepreneur you know how important it is to plan, but if you’re like most people it’s almost impossible to routinely find the time to be able to catch your breath, much less work on big picture planning.  What can you do?

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