Where Are They Now?

During the past 27 years, I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with hundreds of agri-businesses, specifically on their financial progress and, in some cases, their complete turnaround, in terms of how they operate.

Initially, we go through some basic questions about what is currently happening in their business and what they would like to see in 3-5 years. Ninety-five percent of them state that they would like to be more profitable.

I always explain that this will require three steps. We need to know:

1.)   Where are they now? In other words, we examine their profitability and cost structure. This is especially important now, given the recent rate of inflation. Do they have the optimal debt structure in place, one that best serves them well and maximizes overall Cash Flow?

2.)   What items can we change? Are there improvements that are possible regarding costs? If you are shipping milk or other food products, are you achieving “quality bonuses?” Is your work force being optimized? Their performance can certainly influence quality levels.

3.)   What must we change? Earlier this year, I worked with a Client who truly was the definition of insanity. You know, being unwilling to change anything and then expecting different results! Their costs were high, their producing units were lower and, as expected, their feed program was awful. Results? Equally terrible!

When we run into challenges like this, my most difficult challenge is convincing people to make changes, and, as I stated in #1 above, the first task is to measure results. If you measure them you can understand them. If you understand them, you can control them, and if you can control them, you can improve them!

We never want to be an example of “insanity,” as I said above, doing things the same way and expecting different results. As I review the results of our Clients these past 10 years, I observe the following. Their Revenue has increased by 32%, & their Costs have risen by 17%. That represents the answer to the question in the title above: Where Are They Now? More significantly, it clearly shows that measuring their results every month has achieved two tasks. 1.) They boosted their existing income results and sought out new revenue sources. 2.) While they were faced with cost increases, they maintained their jump in expenses at a level that was less than their revenue improvements. How did they do that? Simply, by measuring and fine tuning their monthly cash flow!

My question for you is – “Where are you now?” If I can assist you with this, please contact me. This is challenging and is not a time for excess pride. It is a time for action.

“There ought to be ways of reforming a business, other than by merely putting more money into it.”                Winston Churchill

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!