Make No Little Plans

For those who have read The Devil in the White City, tucked between the albeit gruesome telling of H.H. Holmes is a story of imagination, determination, and above all else, resilience with Architects Daniel Burnham and John Root as they take on the World’s Columbian Exhibition. Living in Chicago it’s hard not to look around and see the impact that architecture has had, and how our skyline continues to evolve into a tapestry of old and new coming together. 

Burnham is quoted as saying, “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood,” and I would have to agree (except for the fact it should be “a person’s” blood). This year has shown us that no matter what happens in the world, it’s going to be the big plans that lead us to meaningful change. 

While I struggle with the sentiment of ego as it pertains to eGuide’s place in these “big plans”, what 2021 has shown us is that the work we do is important and that the bigger our organization becomes, the larger of an impact we will have – the more likely our small idea of helping small organizations will turn into a big plan. 

2021 has brought with it a record-breaking year for eGuide, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting it. We have been able to flex our core services to create an effective and meaningful pattern of work. We have been able to build and collaborate on nearly 30 websites, create and implement content marketing strategies that are leading to brand recognition and consistent growth, support the IT infrastructure of small businesses and nonprofits through planning, sourcing, and implementing changes to technology, and provide small businesses with meaningful coaching services. 

The common denominator? 

We are helping small organizations do more, with less. We have seen our partners bouncing back from the pandemic with an eye on efficiency. The shift the world has gone through during the health crisis has allowed us all to operate as effectively in a virtual environment as we would across a conference table. Business owners are seeing the importance of having well-thought-out and structured workflows that allow them to actually lead, instead of managing “butts-in-chairs”, and those who have started to figure out how to leverage this shift are thriving. This is the work that fuels me to my core, and to start to see this shift trickle down to even 1-2 person teams is energizing not only for me but the entire team at eGuide.

Speaking of, we have added a fair amount of new members to our collective. This year allowed us to explore what working with dedicated contract staff looked like, and I am happy to say it’s working. This change has given us the ability to bring in true specialists that are able to use their experience to create even more efficiency in a project. Between full-time, part-time, and contract partners we will be wrapping up the year with a full “Brady Bunch”, as I like to call out on our weekly Zoom calls, and I could not be more excited to see where 2022 will lead us. 

Entering 2022 with Cautious Optimism 

The year ahead is going to be another interesting one to navigate, and while I am cautiously optimistic that we will continue to reach some sort of equilibrium in the world, we are prepped and ready to handle whatever curveballs may be thrown our way. 

With a focus on partnering with small organizations that need support with their websites, content marketing, or IT systems, our goal for 2022 is to continue to refine our signature services to best serve our partners. This will allow us not only to operate more efficiently as a business ourselves, but it will also allow us to draw parallels between projects and be a sounding board and confidant to small organization leaders. Keep an eye out for more meaningful content that you can apply to your organization and more tools to ensure our projects are executed consistently, effectively, and you guessed it, efficiently. 

We Are Nothing Without Community

I cannot thank our larger eGuide community enough for your continued partnership. I am honored to call the many small businesses and nonprofits we get the pleasure of supporting our partners. I am so in awe by the amount of blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into your businesses and organizations over the past 2 years especially. You are an incredible source of inspiration. Thank you. 

To the eGuide team. Your determination has been felt and illustrated countless times over, and your commitment to eGuide core value number 1, to do something that helps someone, is felt each and every day. Thank you for your everpresent flexibility as eGuide continues to grow, and thank you for putting your passion into helping our partners. 

I am ready to enter 2022 by continuing the pursuit of our “big plan” and I can’t wait to continue to share that journey with you all! 

-Gregory Perrine
Owner, eGuide Tech Allies