We just returned from our annual trip to the family cabin in northern Wisconsin. For most of the trip we averaged over 25 mpg. However, on the way home, from western Minnesota to Bozeman, Montana we got just under 20 mpg. For that whole stretch there was a stiff headwind. A wind so tough there were many spots we had to hold the wheel tight to avoid being blown around.
There are headwinds everywhere in life. They are in business, business buying and business selling. And we create most of them ourselves (unlike the winds across the plains).
Business sellers create headwind and slow up their process of selling the company by not letting go (delegating), by doing too much to reduce taxes by blending personal expenses into the business, by not keeping their investment in systems and equipment up to date and more.
Business buyers create headwind by not proactively prospecting, by falling in love with a business and ignoring other options, by doing too much due diligence (and driving the seller nuts) and by being overly confident of their abilities with a mediocre business.
Owners create headwind by not having any kind of plan other than what’s in their head, by taking too much money out or the business and depleting their growth capital, by not building a solid management team and by not having any kind of sales and marketing strategy.
Pay attention to the above, get help to make corrections and switch those headwinds to tailwinds.
