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New goals for Year 2000
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December 15, 1999: 4:47 p.m. ET
Renew the resolutions you didn’t keep last year and add some new ones
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - If you're like me, you still haven't lost the 10 pounds you resolved to lose last New Year's Eve; you're still working six or seven days a week, and haven't paid off all your credit-card balances.
Well, nobody's perfect. But now is the time to make those same resolutions, and a few new ones for next year and for the next century.
My Year 2000 resolutions are simple: losing the same 10 pounds, working only six days a week, and trying to spend more time outdoors without a computer or telephone nearby.
To wrap up 1999, my reporter, Julieanne Neal, and I asked several entrepreneurs across the United States to share their goals and dreams for 2000. We also asked them to reflect on 1999, and provide some advice for someone starting a business in 2000. Here's a sampling of what we learned:
Robert X. Cringley, a Northern California-based consultant and broadcaster who appears frequently on PBS and CNN, said his greatest accomplishment in 1999 was to "admit defeat, and shut down a company that wasn't going to make it."
His greatest regret was not following his own investment advice. "I gave great advice to others, but I never listened to myself," he said. His top goal for 2000? "To stop working 52 weeks a year." Cringley advises new business owners to first hire a good accountant.
"Listen to your lawyer only half the time," he said. "Most small-business owners don't really know what they're doing. That's a strength, because If they knew what they were doing, they probably wouldn't start a business."
Almeda Dunn, president and CEO of Star Detective and Security Agency Inc. in Chicago, said her greatest accomplishment in 1999 was celebrating the company's 75th anniversary. The company also ranked among the Top 100 U.S. minority-owned businesses, and she was profiled in Ebony magazine.
Dunn, who plans to spend New Year's Eve with her mother, husband and two daughters, said her top goal for 2000 is to build a new addition to house an expanded training facility.
Her greatest regret?
"I wish that my grandfather, who started the business, could be alive to see the company today," said Dunn. "Although, I know in my heart that he knows what we're doing."
Joline Godfrey, president and CEO of Independent Means in Santa Barbara, Calif., heads a 15-person company that provides programs and products designed to teach business skills to girls. In 1999, Godfrey's greatest accomplishment was expanding her business abroad, and being invited to attend an economic summit for women in London.
"We spent two days with Prime Minister Tony Blair," said Godfrey. "It was personally and professionally exciting."
When asked if she had any regrets in 1999, she said, "I live a life of few regrets. You get up, and do the best you can, and don't whip yourself over things that don't turn out."
Marcia Firestone, president of the Women Presidents' Organization, spent 1999 spinning WPO out of a larger organization and creating four new chapters. She said one of her greatest accomplishments was helping her husband regain his health after he had a heart problem. To celebrate his recovery, they plan to fly to Spain between Christmas and New Year's Day.
"We have a resolution to take more trips in 2000, and we're doing it," she said.
Small-business attorney and author Susan Wilson Solovic said her greatest accomplishment was landing a contract to write a book about how to be successful in the next century.
"Getting that contract launched my consulting and speaking business," said Solovic, president of St. Louis-based Susan Says.
Her biggest regret in 1999?
"Not spending more time with my mother, who has Alzheimer's," said Solovic.
Jean Leavitt, founder of Near to You, a specialty lingerie store in Daytona Beach, Fla., said her greatest regret was not opening her store sooner. The 2-year-old store, which sells swimwear, silicone breast forms, and other products for women with breast cancer, is the only one like it in the Daytona Beach area.
"This year has been so rewarding," said Leavitt, herself a cancer survivor. "I've met wonderful women who have given me the incentive to keep going."
Her advice to new business owners:
"Take advantage of all the help and resources available," she said. "Sign up for free counseling from SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives), and do market research before you get started."
Kelly Watkins, president of Expressive Concepts in New Albany, Ind., said her greatest accomplishment in 1999 was becoming a mother. Although she's learning how to juggle work and family, her greatest regret was going back to work so soon after her son was born.
Watkins, a trainer and speaker, said her top goal for 2000 is to turn "contacts into contracts," and begin offering some online training products and programs.
Her advice for new business owners:
"Don't be afraid to ask for help, because there are a lot of people out there who are willing to spend time with you," said Watkins.
Patty DeDominic, CEO of PDQCareers.com in Los Angeles, said her greatest accomplishment was expanding her business nationwide. Her temporary staffing firm, with 1999 revenue of $20 million, has employees working in 21 states across the United States for companies and organization including AT&T and the Red Cross.
In 2000, she plans to further expand the company's services and hire a vice president of marketing. Unlike many businesses planning to close between Christmas and New Year's Day, PDQ will remain open to serve clients. "We're on full alert to support our clients, who may have special needs," she said.
She has this advice for new business owners:
"Be prepared to work harder than you've ever worked before," she said. "Commit to delivering increasing amounts of value to your clients, and of course, remember that technology is the electricity of tomorrow."
DeDominic, whose greatest regret during 1999 was "not staying on my diet," said she and her husband, Gene Sinser, haven't yet decided where they'll be on New Year's Eve.
"We'll either be with a small group of friends at home, or sitting on a rock in the Palm Springs desert contemplating the sky."
Reporting by Julieanne Neal
(The Applegate Group is run by Jane Applegate, a syndicated columnist and author of 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business. "Succeeding in Small Business" appears Wednesdays on CNNfn.com.) 
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