We were relaxing on a Sunday night after a busy weekend and watching the end of Sunday Night Baseball. It was an exciting game, the visitors had a one run lead in the bottom of the ninth, runner on first, two outs, and the pitcher kept throwing over to first to keep the runner close, as he had previously attempted to steal on a pitch fouled off. Of course, the home town fans booed with every toss to first and the boos got louder with every throw.
Sure enough, the runner took off, the catcher fired a bullet to second, runner out, and game over. The announcers quickly pounced on the runner’s poor lead and jump, because of all the throws to first.
Throwing to first is a baseball basic when the runner is a threat to steal, and sometimes even when he’s not. Not popular when the opponent does it, very smart when your team does it.
The basics in running a business can get pretty boring and some employees may not like doing them, but they work.
- Make enough calls and sales happen.
- Put in the time to have accurate financial statements and management reports and you’ll know where you stand.
- Put in the time on new products and you grow.
- Delegate to your employees, they’ll grow and be more productive.
The basics of getting ready to exit can also seem boring, like repeated throws to first, but they pay off. It’s why I’ve made the process simple in If They Can Sell Pet Rocks Why Can’t You Sell Your Business (For What You Want)?)
If you’d like a complimentary copy for yourself or a client let me know.
“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.” B.F. Skinner
