A collection of blogs and other writings
from John Ellsworth
Even More Ways to Achieve Financial Success
Ask John Ellsworth of Success Strategies
John has served the dairy industry throughout the US for over 25 years. He works in the areas of strategic palnning, debt restructring and cash flow management and assists dairymen and related businesses to improve their financial and move forward in the success of their businesses.
If you need assistance regarding dairy farm loans and dairy industry, contact John today.
Call John at 209-988-8960 or Send him an email:
“Getting the Three A’s Right”
As we enter a new year and, in fact, a new decade, it’s crucial that we get off to a great start. The last 10 years in the dairy industry have had their share of “highs” and “lows.” Yet, the last 12 months represented a year in which we saw more positive results, and this year is looking brighter, too.
Having said that, what do we need to do to start off on a positive note? I recently listened to an excellent presentation by Brendon Burchard entitled “How to Achieve a Happier 2020.” As always, his presentation was excellent. Here are his three major factors that will determine your success this year, along with items he called “Musts for 2020!”
Brendon’s three major factors that will determine your success this year:
Here are Brendon’s “Musts for 2020:”
I hope you find this information helpful. This is crucial information for you to have a firm grasp on. If I can assist you, please let me know. Additionally, as you think about how to overcome business challenges, ask what actions you must undertake!What will you do differently, going forward?
Here’s a suggestion for you. Sign up for our new Success Strategies Business Navigator Program. If you are open to learning new concepts and discussing them with other producers, you should take a look at this new program that will start early next year. It’s completely online, freeing you from travel but offering you an opportunity to learn from industry experts in the areas of milk marketing, management, financial analysis & banking/finance. For the value of the milk production of one 85 lb cow for a month, you can enroll in this quarterly workshop program for one year. What have you got to lose? Check it out at:
https://success-strategies.com/navigator-program-for-dairy-farmers/
You won’t regret it. I wish you the very best for a success-filled year!
“Are You Sure About This?”
Following my last article, I was asked by several producers what they could use as a measuring device for reaching their objective of achieving greater profitability. After reminding them about what my Business Coach Dan Sullivan stated, “All progress begins with telling the truth,” I added that they absolutely have to know their Break-Even levels. Break-Evens, as they are called, represent the levels of milk production, cost/cwt or milk price per cwt that must be achieved to at least break even, or, in other words, not lose money…
This is fairly straightforward, but some people have a challenge with this concept. More definitively, your Break-Even Cost per cwt, is the level of costs that will keep you from losing money, based upon the current level of milk production you are achieving and upon the current milk prices you are receiving.
This is relatively easy to calculate. You take your current costs for a given time period and divide those by the number of hundred-weights of milk you are producing in the same time period. For example, if you are producing 10,000 cwts and your costs to do so are $155,000, your costs per cwt are $15.50. However, if you are losing $5,000 during the same time period, your loss per cwt is $0.50, meaning you need a $16.00/cwt milk price to “Break Even.”
Why is this important to know?
In all of these examples, this is powerful information for you to have a firm grasp on. If I can assist with this calculation, please let me know. Additionally, as you think about how to overcome this business challenge, ask what action you need to undertake this week!What will you do differently, going forward?
Here’s a suggestion for you. Sign up for our new Success Strategies Business Navigator Program. If you are open to learning new concepts and discussing them with other producers, you should take a look at this new program that will start in early 2020. It’s completely online, freeing you from travel but offering you an opportunity to learn from industry experts in the areas of milk marketing, management, financial analysis & banking/finance. For the value of the milk production of one 85 lb cow for a month, you can enroll in this quarterly workshop program for one year. What have you got to lose? Check it out at:
https://success-strategies.com/navigator-program-for-dairy-farmers/
You won’t regret it. I wish you the very best for a success-filled year!
“There is No Try!”
I was recently reminded of an old episode in the Star Wars movie entitled The Empire Strikes Back, where the famous character Yoda encourages young Luke Skywalker to use his mind to accomplish a task at hand. The task, no easy feat, is to retrieve his disabled spaceship out of a remote bog where it has sunk, but only by using his mind…
Do you remember their verbal exchange? Young Luke, thinking this task was nearly impossible, agrees to give it a “try.” Yoda, in the quote he is famous for, states, “No. Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.” In case you need a refresher, here’s the link:
Are you facing some similar challenges in your business? I’ve recently completed two Client refinances, both of which took a long time. In spite of being profitable, their lenders just were just not willing to stretch in the way that we needed them to go. After their refinancing, one of these Clients is now working on their third straight year of being profitable, and the other one is working on year number two of profitability.
What has been the secret with these folks? Yes, their prices have improved, but more importantly, they didn’t just decide to try. They established guidelines that said they were not going to fail. They would do whatever it took to get profitable again. They turned over every stone to determine what needed to be changed!
Just in case you are wondering, please understand that there is a real problem with saying you will “try to do something.” The issue is that when we say we will try, we don’t actually have to commit to doing anything substantial. I’ve witnessed this phenomenon many times in the past. Essentially, it gives us an excuse for not accomplishing the task at hand. Trying is not the same as doing something!
Here are some recommendations:
As you think about how to overcome your business challenges, ask what action you need to undertake this week!What will you do differently, going forward? Think about it.
Here’s a suggestion for you. Sign up for our new Success Strategies Business Navigator Program. If you are open to learning new concepts and discussing them with other producers, you should take a look at this new program that will start early next year. It’s completely online, freeing you from travel but offering you an opportunity to learn from industry experts in the areas of milk marketing, management, financial analysis & banking/finance. For the value of the milk production of one 85 lb cow for a month, you can enroll in this quarterly workshop program for one year. What have you got to lose? Check it out at:
https://success-strategies.com/navigator-program-for-dairy-farmers/
You won’t regret it. I wish you the very best for a success-filled year!
Fighting an Uphill Battle!
I was recently reading a review of the comments offered by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue while he was visiting World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. I wasn’t there, so I am not defending his commentary, nor am I saying he is totally right or wrong. However, I believe that his speaking points hit on some relevant thoughts.
Rome Wasn’t Built in One Day!
This is an old expression that I’m sure you’ve heard people express many times. You know what? It’s true. Recently, however, I’ve been surprised to hear some bankers and vendors to the dairy industry exclaim their surprise by stating that they cannot understand why producers aren’t catching up more quickly on old Accounts Payable.
“The Art of Racing in the Rain!”
I recently saw an excellent movie by the title listed above, and I must tell you – It was a wonderful and very touching story. I’d highly recommend you see it! However, I’m not going to tell you any more about the story, simply because I don’t want to spoil it for you, but do yourself a favor & go see it.