A collection of blogs and other writings
from John Ellsworth
Even More Ways to Achieve Financial Success
Ask John Ellsworth of Success Strategies
John’s dairy industry service spans 25-years in strategic planning, debt restructuring, and cash flow management. John knows farm finances and what your bank expects.
Call John at 209-988-8960 or Send him an email:
What is Your Level of Commitment?
No one ever said that planning was easy, but it is rewarding. Work hard to stay on course with your plan and always know where you are with respect to that plan. There is no alternative, other than to be like the warehouse worker, who, when asked how long he had worked at his current job, replied, “Ever since they threatened to fire me…” Staying on course with your plan will lend itself to far superior results.
“No Excuses!”
We are in a constantly changing industry environment where decisions we made five years ago are not necessarily as effective as they previously were. It is time for each of us to take back the reins of the decision making process and adopt a more proactive approach moving forward. Management consultant Peter Drucker stated that, “The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
Should You Be Committed?
My intent was not to draw that fabulous 0.01% interest we currently receive on any savings, but rather it was designed to segregate these funds from his checking account, with the sole intent of protecting the money from being spent. I call it AGS – Acute Goal Savings.
“How can I get past this challenge?”
Do you ever find yourself having difficulty being optimistic? I think we all do at times. Of course, not when we are getting in excess of $20 per cwt for our milk, but how about when milk prices are far less positive, as they were from 2009-2012? You might want to save this article for those times…
The Trial of the Century!
I realize that, given the solid margins of 2014, it is easy to forget about how difficult the prior eight years had been in the dairy industry. Recall the challenges of high feed costs for most of 2008 to 2013 and the calamity of $10 milk prices in 2006 and 2009? These years represented the trial of the century!
What Would Croesus Actually Do?
In their book Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small, authors Barry Nalebuff and Ian Ayres tell the story of Croesus and his ability to successfully overcome any problem. However, they go one step further by answering the question about what you can do to solve challenges when you do not have unlimited funds, like most of us.