2016 in review

After turbulent 2015 I was hoping for a less eventful 2016. I’ve learned my lessons and was determined to do better. So how did the year go?

Work

2016 was good for WireDot. We had few really cool projects and avoided big problems. We had few returning clients and several new ones. Overall things went well.

The team is still just 3 people, but the more I think about it, the more I like keeping it that small. I don’t have any plans of changing it in the near future.

My Work Goals in 2016

Launch 2 products

I’ve launched WD Gallery, a WordPress plugin, back in February. I’ve also completed another plugin in December but run out of time to launch it.

Overall there still is a lot of work to go, especially in the marketing department. But that’s ok. I just need to keep on working.

Goal completed in 50%

Speak at a conference

Managed to speak at WordCamp Geneva which was great. It was a great learning experience and I hope my talk helped someone.

I would love to do it again. I still need to learn a lot, but the best way to do it is through practice.

Goal completed in 100%

+30% in revenue

Unfortunately, this didn’t happen. One of our biggest projects started having financial issues half way through the year and it hurt the company a bit. If all went according to the plan, the revenue would be up by 20%. In the end, it was just +2%.

But I don’t see this as a failure. I’ve realized that to increase the revenue significantly I would also have to hire more people and go after much bigger projects. And that’s not what I want to do. At least not now.

Goal not completed

Personal

Life was good on the personal front as well. Had a lot more time with my wife and kids. Did a little bit of traveling and was a lot more relaxed.

My Personal Goals in 2016

Take all 30 days of holidays

Mission accomplished, I’ve used all my holidays. Took a week off 5 times and used the rest here and there. It had a huge impact on my health, both mental and physical.

Resting is so important. For the first time in years, I avoided being sick in Autumn.

Goal completed in 100%

Read at least 1 book per month

In the first few months, I was on track. But reading was taking a lot more time that I thought it would. Eventually, I lost my motivation. Reading books is great… it’s just not for me… I think…

Goal not completed

Take control of finances

The beginning of the year was good. Around summer time things went a bit sideways. For the first time ever I had problems with clients not paying invoices. It wasn’t a bad will or anything, just little communication issues, people going on holidays etc. August and September were very stressful. Afterward, things got back to normal.

November and December were amazing and gave me a lot of motivation for 2017.

Goal completed in 75%

Overall

All in all, it was a good year. The business was good, personal life was good too. I managed to avoid issues that made 2015 so challenging. But some things were not ideal. I’ve learned a ton, though. I will take all those lessons and apply them in 2017. This will be the best year for sure.