The Annual Hustler’s Portfolio Pulse-Check: Leapfrogging into the Future
Every hustler, solopreneur understands the importance of annual reviews. This exercise shines a beam of light on the path ahead.
Like you, I hustle. A lot. And I love it.
I spend my 6–9 working on side-hustles and thinking of future opportunities to realize. Time flies when we are mad busy. This is especially so when we are in the grind, building the future we seek.
Because of that, we often forget to take a pulse check on our work.
It is common in the Solopreneur’s universe.
And so, I mark 13 spots in my calendar to remind myself to take a pulse check. 12 of those spots are end-of-month reviews. These are the regular check-ups. It serves to evaluate whether things are okay while on auto-pilot.
The 13th spot is designated as an annual review. It is akin to the hospital check-up. I review everything that I do, and I rock the boat with what-if’s and should-I’s. It happens during the 1st week of October, before the close of the year.
These are my 3 pillars of annual reviews:
- Trash it.
- Build it.
- Improve on it.
Each pillar requires a deep reflection beyond what I enjoy doing. It is meant to ground myself with reality, given my constraints with life, family, and a full-time 9–6.
Review Pillar 1 — Trash It
“If you know something is going to be better while leaving it alone, then leave it. If you KNOW something is going to get worse, and you do nothing about it, then it is criminal neglect.”
Late Mr. Lee echoes my thoughts.
The first thing I attend to in my annual review is trimming the fats and removing the deadweights. I want to direct my energy on ventures, projects, side-hustlers that will blossom in the future.
Recently, I got into a discussion with a business collaborator to terminate our working relationship. That session took 2 hours. It was a difficult conversation because we are close friends.
We kissed goodbye anyway.
This is why:
- This collaboration is heavily dependent on her inputs. She is the knowledge bearer, and I am the content producer.
- I work to move things fast. I drop videos on YouTube fast, and I write newsletters fast.
- She wants to think things through and only work for quality.
- Fast video deposits into YouTube do not work for her. She is willing to pay for a videographer to produce great videos.
- I think of ways to funnel people into Webinars for her to conduct classes. She wants to do physical workshops in a rented space.
I work through the list for every side-hustles of mine without prejudice. When I was working out the future feasibility of this collaboration, it became clear that I am not the person she seeks.
I find it hard to proceed either.
So, I trashed it.
Tip: You will find it hard to break away from a collaboration, and many people opt to ghost their business partners without proper communication. Avoid that. You never know when you will collaborate again. Aim for a mutual understanding and soft landing. You will do okay.It is okay to drop commitments that don’t work out. It frees up precious time to work on others that may work out.
Review Pillar 2 — Build It
Build it focuses on investing the necessary time and effort to study, understand, grow, and practice the skillsets of my choice.
It is forward-looking.
There are 2 types of Build It, each beneficial in their own way:
- New skillsets.
- New skillsets, expanding on what we are already working on.
Delivering brilliant presentations has been at the back of my mind for the longest time. It is time I take action (finally!). I researched for Toastmaster’s courses to attend and registered quickly to lock in my commitment. This has to be done before self-doubt starts creeping into my head.
I have decided to expand my writing skillsets beyond long-form content writing to newsletters. I have been experimenting with SubStack for the past 3 months, and I realized that newsletters require a different form of writing to attract subscribers.
I can add newsletter writing as my service offer in the future, after cracking the subscription-model code.
Tip: When it comes to Build It, you need a budget. You need to budget for self-improvement expenditure. Free content can only take you that far. Also, you have to budget for time. Set aside a couple of hours or 3 hours a week to build new skills. Your efforts will pay off by next year.Review Pillar 3 — Improve on It
“The term economic moat, popularized by Warren Buffett, refers to a business’ ability to maintain competitive advantages over its competitors in order to protect its long-term profits and market share from competing firms. Just like a medieval castle, the moat serves to protect those inside the fortress and their riches from outsiders.”
- Investopedia, What is an Economic Moat
This is about our pricing power.
People want to be paid more. So do I. Get real, and get cracking if that is your aim.
This pillar is the easiest to work on. Let me use the example of a content producer.
You can do the following to seek improvement points:
- Seek out people you trust. They can be your co-workers or clients.
- Give them permission to criticize one piece of your work.
- It can be long-form content, social media content, YouTube content, and whatnot.
- Seek straight advice from a small group, especially from the honest but not ninja-assassin-brutal spit-on-you-personalities at the very beginning. You need to survive the ordeal to improve.
- Rule of Engagement: Accept every damn thing they say even if you disagree. When they are done, take their feedback and go through them silently alone. Determine the points that you want to work on.
- The emphasis is on choice. You will not be able to work on every piece of feedback. Circle those that relate to you and move ahead.
Take the stab. When the wound heals, you get to price your products and services at a higher rate.
It is worth your time.
Summary
When we embark on an annual portfolio pulse-check, engage this activity with the intent of realizing future prosperity.
We want to do better, sell more, sell our products and services for a higher price. We want to grow our side-hustles into a business we are proud of.
We will not know how and by how much to improve if we do not take stock today.
In this regard, just once a year will do miracles to your work.
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
