Tag Archive for: Success

What? A Crisis? How Can That Be?

It was interesting that when I walked in, that was the first thing my Client hit me with… But, hey, that’s the type of challenges we’ve always thrived on, so I thought – let’s just go with it.

My preferred approach? Understand that, as Author Dan Heath stated in his book Reset, “There are no crises, only options.” What did he mean by that? You’re trying to balance revenues and expenses, put out “fires” with two vendors, and you’re short on help with one employee currently on vacation and your office manager out on maternity leave…

A couple of suggestions:

  1. Relax – Yes, you have some challenges, but let’s keep them in perspective.
  2. Communicate – Discuss your late invoices with the vendors and then work out a plan that works for them and is achievable for you.
  3. Consider – Perhaps a LT plan might work… Take a close look at the Cash Flows of your business. Remember, if you measure it, you can understand it. If you understand your cash flows, you can develop better controls over it, and if you gain more control, you undoubtedly can improve it.
  4. Review – What options do we have? Tune out the “noise” and think it through.

Recently, I read a newsletter by Peter Diamandis, author of Abundance and numerous other best-selling books, about how he remains optimistic. Someone asked, “Peter, isn’t optimism kind of naive right now?”

He replied, “I want to answer it honestly, without the stage-lights version of myself. The short answer is that optimism was never about believing everything will be fine. It’s a stance on where agency lives. The future is not something happening to you. It’s something happening for you, if you decide to grab the wheel.”

He adds, “Optimism isn’t something I feel. It’s something I do, every morning, usually before I’ve earned the right to.”

So, the next time you feel “overloaded,” just stop and breathe deeply. As bad as it might seem, whatever hurdle you are approaching, it has likely been overcome before. Think it through, and if it seems insurmountable, please don’t wait too long to seek help. After 28 years of guiding Clients through their business problems, that is probably the #1 mistake I see people make – waiting too long to ask for assistance.

“The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.”

John Sculley, Former Apple & Pepsi CEO

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Have You Heard of the 5 F’s?

Recently, my Father-in-Law passed away, just three weeks before his 91st birthday. He had lived a very successful life and was very respected in his Church and Farming Community. Fortunately, my bride and I were able to spend four hours with him the afternoon before his life ended.

My reason for sharing this with you is that he reminded us to always remember the “5 F’s.” Of course, we asked, “What are the 5 F’s?” To which he replied: Faith, Family, Friends, Farming and Football. Please allow me share what I believe he would want each of us to remember about these five points.

  • Faith – He primarily meant for us to maintain our Christian Faith, and I agree with this. However, he may have also been suggesting that we should have faith in our country, our economy and our 250-year history as a nation. Have we been 100% perfect? No, but I don’t see anyone climbing walls to get out, only to get in… As Victor Davis Hanson has stated the “Tribalism” in the U.S. needs to stop and so does the movement toward socialism & communism. It’s a “dead end.”
  • Family – Most of us wouldn’t amount to much without this ongoing support, whether it is from our parents, grandparents, our spouse and our children. My suggestion? Communicate with them, stay involved in their lives and keep them updated. In the case of many readers of this column who operate farms or other small businesses, keeping close contact with your children is a great idea. Their efforts may even represent your retirement at some point.
  • Friends – We all have them and should share our ideas with them. I would include your Clients and Co-workers in this category, too. As the saying goes, “Be nice to people as you climb the ladder of success, because they are the same ones you’ll meet if you are ever on your way back down.” And on the sharing of ideas, it used to be that we were best served by “protecting” our ideas. Today, in contrast to that, the worst thing you can do is to remain “undiscovered.” It can cause you to be left behind.
  • Farming – This one is self-explanatory. My Father-in-Law took great pride in his farming community, his friends who were in it, and all that they meant to each other, as well as their willingness to help each other, as needed. If you are a farmer reading this, you already know this.
  • Football – I understand that not all of you are fans of the Kansas City Chiefs, but my wife’s father was an avid Chiefs fan. I believe that is why this “F” made his top 5 list. It was not more important than the other four, but he loved the Chiefs and felt that football represented a positive example of teamwork and camaraderie, while seeking a common objective.

Hopefully, you can relate to these “5 F’s.” They represent a positive model by which he lived and one that all of us should strive to attain.

“You cannot connect the dots, going forward, only looking back, so trust the future.”

Steve Jobs, Co-Founder of Apple

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Wow! What Will Happen Next?

That, my friends, is a great question. An even bigger question is “Can you stay ahead of the curve?” Every business, including my own, is facing the same dilemma of cost increases. As usual, my starting point is measurement. If you are not measuring your Cash Flow, including both Revenues & Expenses, you could get blindsided.

We are presently in an inflationary period, and despite the current Administration’s best efforts, the cost trends will likely continue for some time. Granted, inflation may have dropped back to 4-5% now, which is far better than what we saw five years ago, but prices are still climbing, nonetheless.

What can you do? I would suggest that you begin by measuring your financial results. If you aren’t equipped to do so, hire someone who is. I do it for all my Clients monthly, and it has helped their margins immensely. If you measure it, you can grasp a clearer understanding of what needs to change on either expenses or, if possible, on your revenue sources.

Once you understand your Cash Flow, you can gain better control over it, and, of course, if you have more control, you can improve it by making changes, as needed. Is this all about cost cutting? Absolutely not. You will want to make sure your costs are reasonable, but if you are running an older facility that has some physical limitations, you are not likely to gain some of the same efficiencies as a brand-new facility may provide. However, you can still make changes that result in positive progress.

If you have a solid handle on your costs, then you might want to explore potential new revenue sources. I have several Clients who face limitations within their facility, but despite their inability to grow, they have identified alternative revenue streams. I have Clients making money with Solar setups, Methane Digesters, Colostrum Sales, Marketing Beef Cross Calves for huge returns, marketing excess heifers from their dairy operation, Selling Corn & Wheat Crops, growing Almonds & other tree crops, and even renting space on their facilities.

My point is this. Don’t “sleepwalk” through this process. There are multiple opportunities out there. Study the options available to you and if you can’t identify them, contact me. I have a lot of experience with this type of work. Many of the ideas listed above have been initiated on my watch. It is not a job for the timid, and I would be glad to help you succeed even more!

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, MAKE THEM.”

George Bernard Shaw

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What’s Your Communication Level?

We live in a complex world, but not everything is complex. Even with items that are more challenging or difficult to understand, the key is communication.

Please allow me to give you a few examples where communication may assist:

  • You are concerned that, given lower prices and rising costs due to inflation, your credit line may get fairly tight. Communicating this to your loan officer is an excellent idea. If you give him or her enough time, they can probably complete an increase on your line availability before you even need it.
  • You have a large A/P with a vendor. Let the vendor know as soon as possible and set up a payment plan or whatever it takes to satisfy their situation. They also have bills to pay and a payroll to meet. Communication here goes a long way.
  • You have IRS payments that are past due. I have heard, “But I can’t reach them.” Then, leave a message and reach out in writing. They may be overloaded with work, but at least you can demonstrate that you are attempting to communicate & solve the issue.
  • I am the master of doing just one more task before heading to dinner. Sometimes I even overbook myself. Speaking from experience, communicating these delays to my spouse can go a long way toward maintaining peace at home.

In all these cases, as my Business Coach Dan Sullivan stated, “All progress begins with telling the truth.”

With your banker, reach out early to provide them with adequate time to meet your needs. With Vendors, reach out if you are having challenges paying on time. They will likely work with you. With the IRS, start talking about solutions, not just the problem. Finally, let your Family know when you might fall behind schedule.

All communication is beneficial, and no one was ever faulted for communicating too often or too early. Use it to your advantage.

“The most effective way to manage change successfully is to create it.”

Peter Drucker, Management Expert

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What? We Have No Money?

This was the initial statement a Client made when I asked him how his cash flow was looking. Yet, was that really true, or was it a self-fulfilling prophecy, based upon our current market news? After all, this conversation happened in early 2026, a truly bleak time in the dairy industry…

More significantly, he said he felt like he was always playing “catch up.” If you feel the same way, do you know why? As I have stated in the past, if you measure your cash flow, you will better understand its components. If you understand them, you can gain control over them, and, of course, if you have better control over these variables, you can improve them.

Having a firm grasp over these Revenue and Expense items can make an immense difference in your outcome. Once you know and understand all of these, you can set new objectives for your business. Some examples might include paying all your Accounts Payable by the 10th of the month, keeping your loan payments all current and completing monthly measurement of your YTD Financial Results every month.

Some may say, “What good is that if I’m short of money?” I would suggest that these measurements are still quite valuable. As the saying goes, “the best way to get out of a hole is to stop digging.” This type of measurement can help you identify expense items that need reducing. However, your expenses may be completely in line with industry standards.

If that is true, then you might need to identify additional sources of revenue. In my Clientele, I have companies that have rental spaces generating funds, several who sell methane captured from their dairy, and some who market dairy heifers in excess of their replacement needs. What areas do you need to consider for added revenue or lower expenses? Set this thinking as a new goal for your operation. You won’t regret it.

“Don’t wait on perfect conditions for success to happen; just go ahead and do something.”

Dan Miller

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

Are You an “Overnight Success?”

I recently had an interesting conversation with a new Client who suggested that I was an overnight success. While I appreciated his kind comment, I had to admit that my “overnight success” only took 27 years of preparation.

This included many experiences, most positive & a few negative, to finally arrive at what may have looked like an overnight success… Believe me. There were plenty of rejections along the way. Yet, the best part of this entire process has been the wonderful Clients in this journey who had put their faith in my Team’s ability to navigate some “dangerous financial waters” and find a solution to their challenges.

Was it easy? No. If it had been, anybody would have been doing it… Here are a few examples for you, some of which may lead you to question my sanity in tackling these problem deals:

  • How about the food processing company who owed their bank about $8,000,000 and only had $2,000,000 of Accounts Receivable and Inventory on hand. However, they did have big hopes for the future of their product line(s), and we were able to get the bank to finance new equipment for an additional product line. This allowed us to generate cash and pay the lines of credit down to a more workable level. It also taught me that the only certainty when you are in the process of developing budget projections is that this is not exactly how things will turn out. Yet, the cash flow results were strong enough that it got us “across the goal line.”
  • Another Client was a struggling partnership that was burdened by owners not getting along & then getting hit with a cash crunch as their milk prices plummeted. In trying to identify the answer to their challenges, I was often reminded of the story told by President Ronald Reagan where a little boy was faced with a barn full of horse poop. When asked why he was so excited, he replied, “With this much horse poop, there has to be a pony in here somewhere!” The Client’s bank had just delivered a mandate through a letter, informing them that they should start liquidating assets. I responded with a three-page email, refuting their “short term thinking” and laying out a game plan for their successful continuation. I met with them every month, and, frankly, it was the fastest financial turnaround I’ve ever coached someone through. Within two years, they had sold the entire partnership operation and real estate, allowing two of the former partners to start new businesses that they are operating today.
  • Three other examples revolve around Clients who I would describe as “land rich & cash poor…” As a result of a horrid loan structure, they became strapped for cash. By restructuring their overall debt and expanding their operations, we were able to boost their overall cash flow to the point that they were very profitable and in a position to market young animals from their dairy businesses. This, too, created an additional source of cash to help them operate. Overnight success? No, but ones that would not have happened at all without the plans we designed together.

All these examples met with success, following a lot of demanding work, planning, and solid execution of the plan. Sometimes, I even had to remind them “Success often is described as the willingness to bear pain; not to be a pain…” By working together in each of their cases, I am pleased to report another “overnight success.”

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from the old ones.”

John Maynard Keynes

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What Is Your Reason?

I recently reread an old book from my personal library, entitled The Goal, written by Eli Goldratt & Jeff Cox in 1992. I read this 34 years ago, and, assuming you can still find a copy, I would highly recommend it.

Essentially, it is a novel with a great story that revolves around a corporate turnaround, one where the players initiate a change of strategy previously characterized by poor planning, numerous bottlenecks in the manufacturing process and consistently late deliveries.

As you might expect, based upon the title, the managers in this process had a two-fold mission to improve their delivery of product, but also set higher goals by challenging prior assumptions. I know. This is basic “corporate blasphemy,” but “challenging the system” is what I’m well known for. Frankly, it has served me very well.

Getting back to The Goal, it has some very solid lessons for us. Foremost, we need to take old assumptions at face value and consider that there are other ways to achieve new goals and accomplishments. One of my favorite parts in the book included a complete challenge to management on their thinking.

To put this into perspective, I had a recent meeting with a Client who was considering the completion of a new Bed-Pack Barn for their dairy herd. It would give them a boost in their operation by getting the rest of their herd out of muddy lots in the winter & hot sun in the summer.

They run a great operation with milk production/cow/day consistently in the 80-85 lb range. Unfortunately, the managing partners are sometimes dissuaded by well-meaning family members from making investments in their business that are proactive.

They asked if I felt they should complete this process, especially considering that the cost is being funded mostly by government money. I stated, using a section on page 150 of the book, that there are only two reasons not to complete it.

  1. If there was no market for their product. This is not the case for them or the Cooperative they sell milk to.
  2. If they are determined not to change anything in their operation for the better. I don’t believe that’s the case. If so, I probably cannot help them succeed…

Consider the pluses of this change. First, their business would improve from higher milk per cow. Additionally, their banker should be happy as the appraised value of the facility increases with no added leverage from more debt, decreasing their Loan to Value %. Even animal welfare advocates should be happy, given the improved conditions for their cows.

While the completion of this project is pending, I believe this would be a positive step forward. Are you facing a similar dilemma? As you think your hurdles through, please consider the positives & the potential downsides, but do move forward. What reason do you have not to accept the challenge to succeed?

“Change can be tough. But the only alternative is eventual obsolescence.”

Michael Hyatt

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Yes, But Does It Fit the “Value Equation?”

My good friend Tim had one question whenever we went wine tasting with our wives: “Does it fit the value equation?” Essentially, was a Cabernet Sauvignon that we were tasting really worth $75-100 per bottle, or could we receive nearly as much satisfaction out of a $35 bottle? It was a sliding scale for us, but it provided us with a better understanding of what we thought about a particular wine. It also allowed us to share our thoughts with each other on wines that we tasted, without hurting the winemaker’s feelings.

Recently, I started thinking about how this fits many industry expenses, too, and Repairs & Maintenance came to mind for me. It is incredible how much it costs to fix any equipment today. May I suggest that you consider the “Value Equation” when you are looking at potential repairs?

I recently had a conversation with a Client who told me he was looking at a possible $90,000 engine replacement and was quite proud that he had run this tractor for 10 years. While I am not advocating taking on more debt, a comparable new tractor would cost him about $300,000. With the zero-interest option offered, he could pay for it over five years at $5,000 per month. Consider the value equation here. For $90,000, he could replace the engine on a tractor that had thousands of hours on it. It could have any number of other items that would break down over the next 18 months, while he was amortizing the $90,000 repair at $5,000/month.

While every decision like this should always be completed by comparing all the options, using the “Value Equation” here led me to think that spending $90,000 on an old tractor was insane, especially considering the potential for added breakdowns. I will share with you that he traded in the old unit and received $60,000 for it, offsetting one year’s monthly payments. He has been well-served with this decision. When you are facing similar decisions, consider the impact of considering the “Value Equation,” and if I can assist you, please let me know.

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

Winston Churchill

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What If You Could?

Recently, I was thinking about a Client with whom I have worked for several years and, as I reviewed their financial results, I was thankful for the positive progress they had made.

When I first met with them, they were quite disappointed that their results were not very solid. In fact, their banker had already put them on notice that they were close to being shipped off to the bank’s infamous “Workout Group.” That is a department you definitely don’t want to end up in. While some may think that it’s a place where you work out your financial challenges, I assure you that it typically is a department where the participants “work your loans out of the bank,” and it is usually high pressure.

Regardless, this Client was not very profitable, and, due to their losses, they were approaching a level of debt leverage that would make them unable to acquire additional financing…” Thus, I asked them the following question: “What if I could guide you to become more profitable and lower your debt/cow? Would you be interested?”

Their first thought caught me a little off guard. They asked if my assistance would be free. After assuring them that I was not with the Red Cross, we started serious discussions about how we could achieve these goals. My first task was to establish what they specifically wanted to accomplish and then, after evaluating what their current position was, start building a plan to move them forward.

Part of the process included a restructuring of their debt load. Of their total debt, far too much was on short term loans, and way too little was against their real estate, which was quite highly valued. Following the restructure, we got them involved in positive budgeting. After developing their budget, we tracked their actual results against it every month. As I have said before, if you measure it, you will better understand it. If you understand it, you can control it, and, of course, if you can control it, you can improve it. This is true with any item, including Cash Flow.

Once we had this process moving forward, we initiated a program with the help of their Nutritionist to boost their milk produced per cow. With the optimal nutrition in place, they started milking fresh cows 4X/day, at the beginning & end of each milking shift. With more cwts of milk produced, we lowered their cost/cwt, always a good thing to do.

Finally, I convinced them that with their higher production and improved herd health, they might want to expand. Making more total cwts, just as with their higher milk per cow, helped them to spread fixed costs out very nicely. Incidentally, the milkers still got their shift done in the same amount of time, even with the 150 added cows.

Voila! Just like magic, all these changes assisted this Client to succeed at a higher level. So, if you are having some challenges in your business, consider “What If I Could…?” I would be happy to assist you with the process!

“Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.”

Winston Churchill

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

Do You Care Enough to Fix It?

In my last blog, I discussed the steps needed to continually move to higher levels of achievement. I understand that we are often surrounded by negative news, but we cannot let that impact our levels of achievement. Often, it’s a matter of adjusting our approach, but sometimes it is simply a matter of managing our time more effectively.

On a phone call with a Client recently, I asked for an update on a key project they were working on. Instead of an update, I heard, “John we are just swamped right now…” While that might be true for a lot of us, we need to move beyond it. There are always more tasks to do than there is time for their completion. That’s why we need to prioritize our challenges & goals and lay out the steps to complete them.

First, here are the three biggest fallacies of “Time Management:”

  • People believe they can get more time. No, you already have all the time that is available to anyone. Thinking otherwise is what Author Dennis Waitley calls “Living on Someday Isle.” It’s a place where nothing ever goes wrong, and you have all the time in the world. You know, that place where someday I’ll…
  • People think they can save time & store it. This simply doesn’t happen. You must use it up, wisely, every day.
  • Some people believe they can manage time. Is this really possible? Or is it better to focus on managing ourselves within the time we have available?

You can use any number of different tools like the “Time Matrix” from Stephen Covey or a “Productivity Pyramid” to rank your priorities, but what I like to do is list my Top Three Tasks each day, as recommended by my Business Coach Dan Sullivan of the Strategic Coach. As Dan suggests, if I only get these three items completed, I’ve had a successful day.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you cannot do more tasks, if time allows, so I’ve got you “Overachievers” covered, too. If I have extra time, I may try to check off another small task, but the ultimate key is to maintain focus on what your highest priorities are, while not reaching a burnout phase.

Most important, as you go through this process, stay focused on your goal, track your progress regularly and celebrate your wins. Then, I will see you at the Finish Line!

“If there are nine rabbits on the ground, if you want to catch one, just focus on one.”

Jack Ma

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!