They say, as humans, our biggest critic is ourselves. This seems to only apply to our bodies or personal accomplishments. It doesn't cover love, children, or our businesses. How many times have you seen a friend make a terrible business decision because they refused to look facts in the face? Have you ever done something like that?

In BusinessKnowHow, we have a business check-up checklist from Laurie Hayes. The point of such a checkup is to make sure you business is truly doing as well as you think it is. For example, could you be personally working too hard, i.e. working harder, not smarter? Or, is the new phone system really better than a conference calling plan?

It's one thing to have a checklist and to go through it, it's quite another to really make the checklist of use to your business. This means you can't just put down answers from off the top of your head – or the bottom of your heart – you have to go and see, and put down answers that are based in reality. This might hurt a bit, or make you angry, but in the long run, it's best for your company.