This is from a post I wrote today for my personal blog. If no one minds, I will link to the actual post later. But for now I'll just copy and paste the text. I'm pretty long winded when I write, and generally lack the ability to even summarize well enough for an accurate TL;DR. So for you people who just scroll to the bottom of the post to get the summation... don't hold your breath.
I’m talking worst month ever. For a newer business like mine, cash flow is everything. In the first eight months consecutively, we saw small positive cash flow. Like any responsible business owner, that cash flow has been reinvested back into the income vehicle, the business, and has allowed us to grow our inventory at a nice pace.
How you should interpret that last sentence is: there’s not much room for error. Small positive cash flow has not resulted in extra money in the coffers - it’s resulted in more money outlayed for inventory. Eight months in = growth mode!
Then came last month. We started with a bang. Two days in, three units moved. Off to a record pace for our small little business; the high spirit is infectious! The month before had already been one for our (short) history books as the most profitable on record. The momentum seemed to be in our favor.
When things are going well, small mistakes get overlooked. When small mistakes get overlooked enough, they seem to have an insidious compound effect. You can see where this is going.
Due to the incredible optimism from the month before, we spent more money than ever on new inventory. All the while, I was busy moving the existing inventory. We were getting nice stuff in, and we were moving it quickly, without much reconditioning. I went out, and in two weeks bought more new inventory than I had in the previous two months combined. I was ready to ride this wave hard.
The new stuff started coming in. I was busy focusing on existing inventory, sales, and nightly victory cigars (I do have a penchant for cigars). I was in work/relax mode, thinking I had hit a sweet spot, thinking that I could just “manage” things.
The small mistakes began.
I had our inventory transported not to me for initial inspection, but straight to the third party shop we use. Instead of me going over every unit to inspect for my standards, I allowed a third party to be in control of what was acceptable/unacceptable.
I bought a wider range of inventory than we currently had sold. In order to stock up, I expanded the small niche we were in the include units with different features than what had proven successful. I felt that we could sell anything.
When a small amount of success is had, the temptation is always to get lazy. I started overlooking the little things I had done every day to make that month the month it was. I stopped following up religiously with people - the sales seemed to be streaming in, why waste the time? I spent less time hands on with the inventory. I quickly fell into the trap of “I’m past that”.
The problem was, I falsely believed that I had set up a structure (in that short eight month period) that allowed for success without much effort. So I took my foot off the gas. There’s a huge difference between delegating responsibility and holding that party accountable, and just giving up control of an entire aspect of the business (inventory quality). There’s a huge difference between getting more aggressive with your business and buying a wider range of inventory, and being overconfident in what you can realistically sell.
The mistakes started to accumulate. Units were dropped off in various stages of incompletion, after spending an already massive amount of time in “un-saleable” status. Some of the riskier acquisitions turned out to be so discounted for a reason. Major issues started to crop up on an alarming amount of my inventory.
Still riding the sales-high and feeling overconfident, I ignored my gut. Instead of taking a small, quick loss on the ones I should have never bought, I made the decision to invest the remaining capital we had lying around into making them right. Assuming the best possible scenario, I severely underestimated the amount of time and money required into making these fringe inventory additions solid and worthy of retail.
This brings me to today, as I sit here and write this post, with a feeling that the entire past eight months have been wiped clean. All progress, momentum, and earnings seem to have evaporated in one fell swoop. And it’s 100% my fault. Not only did I let it happen, I facilitated the necessary circumstance to ensure it happened.
It really only took two weeks to wipe out eight months of progress. Eight months of grinding, hustling, and putting in the effort daily. I was at 3rd and 1; one bad play brought me to 4th and 15.
This is the danger behind ever taking your foot off the gas. This is the danger behind ever thinking that you can relinquish control. The truth is, no one else is looking out for you or for your business. It’s your sole responsibility to push every aspect of your personal success forward in every way. Never make the assumption that anyone will ever act, on their own accord, in a way that will benefit you. Never make the assumption that because certain things seem to be going well, that the trend of success owes you anything tomorrow. Keep the foot on the pedal.
A friend of mine, who operates in the same industry as me, has recently gone through something similar. The big difference is that he has been in business for thirty years. He lost all of his progress and forward momentum over a course of a little over two years. Two years of inaction and relinquishment of control cost him thirty years of business success. Ouch.
I should have learned the lesson from him. The specifics in his case were different, but the underlying reason was roughly the same. I could have learned the concept, and avoided it. But I had to learn for myself, and I had to learn the hard way.
Listen, nothing in life is truly bad when you accept 100% responsibility for it. Everything negative that happened in my business this month, it’s all due to me! Even things that otherwise could be classified as “bad luck”, like a unit requiring an unforeseeable $4,000 repair after it was sold to the customer, that’s still my fault. Had my foot been on the pedal in every other area of the business, that repair bill would not have stung nearly as bad as it did. And wouldn’t still be stinging today.
I consider all this a fortunate occurrence. Fortunate in that I haven’t been in business for thirty years before having this happen. Maybe I’m just less disciplined than he, in that it took him 28 years to take the foot off the gas and me only eight months. That’s fine, whatever it is I’m thankful for it. I’d rather take my hits when I’m young.
If we take complete responsibility for every consequence in our own lives, we also acknowledge that we have complete control over allowing or disallowing those consequences to happen again. Sure I regret the mistakes made, but I have to own them. Learn from them. And use them to create something positive. Namely, a stronger and more resilient business.
The consequences of even a day spent without my foot firmly planted on the pedal are now completely visible to me. They are tangible. I can taste what it tastes like. I know I have to work every day like failure is only one day away. Failure is an inevitability - how will you stave it off today?
Today is the most important day of your life. Today holds all the knowledge and wisdom of the past, and complete control over your future. In this moment, whether you realize it or not, you have more leverage over your life than you had yesterday. Even if it feels like things are crumbling around you.
I’m still in the hole right now, and things are a little hairy for the time being. Direct and indirect consequences of my actions have produced some pretty long term issues that I’ll have to address. I still consider the past month to be the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
My opportunities are smacking me in the face. My foot is back on the accelerator. And I have a clear understanding of exactly what actions I need to take every single day to move this thing forward. Failures and mistakes can be turned into high octane fuel. It’s up to you.
I’m talking worst month ever. For a newer business like mine, cash flow is everything. In the first eight months consecutively, we saw small positive cash flow. Like any responsible business owner, that cash flow has been reinvested back into the income vehicle, the business, and has allowed us to grow our inventory at a nice pace.
How you should interpret that last sentence is: there’s not much room for error. Small positive cash flow has not resulted in extra money in the coffers - it’s resulted in more money outlayed for inventory. Eight months in = growth mode!
Then came last month. We started with a bang. Two days in, three units moved. Off to a record pace for our small little business; the high spirit is infectious! The month before had already been one for our (short) history books as the most profitable on record. The momentum seemed to be in our favor.
When things are going well, small mistakes get overlooked. When small mistakes get overlooked enough, they seem to have an insidious compound effect. You can see where this is going.
Due to the incredible optimism from the month before, we spent more money than ever on new inventory. All the while, I was busy moving the existing inventory. We were getting nice stuff in, and we were moving it quickly, without much reconditioning. I went out, and in two weeks bought more new inventory than I had in the previous two months combined. I was ready to ride this wave hard.
The new stuff started coming in. I was busy focusing on existing inventory, sales, and nightly victory cigars (I do have a penchant for cigars). I was in work/relax mode, thinking I had hit a sweet spot, thinking that I could just “manage” things.
The small mistakes began.
I had our inventory transported not to me for initial inspection, but straight to the third party shop we use. Instead of me going over every unit to inspect for my standards, I allowed a third party to be in control of what was acceptable/unacceptable.
I bought a wider range of inventory than we currently had sold. In order to stock up, I expanded the small niche we were in the include units with different features than what had proven successful. I felt that we could sell anything.
When a small amount of success is had, the temptation is always to get lazy. I started overlooking the little things I had done every day to make that month the month it was. I stopped following up religiously with people - the sales seemed to be streaming in, why waste the time? I spent less time hands on with the inventory. I quickly fell into the trap of “I’m past that”.
The problem was, I falsely believed that I had set up a structure (in that short eight month period) that allowed for success without much effort. So I took my foot off the gas. There’s a huge difference between delegating responsibility and holding that party accountable, and just giving up control of an entire aspect of the business (inventory quality). There’s a huge difference between getting more aggressive with your business and buying a wider range of inventory, and being overconfident in what you can realistically sell.
The mistakes started to accumulate. Units were dropped off in various stages of incompletion, after spending an already massive amount of time in “un-saleable” status. Some of the riskier acquisitions turned out to be so discounted for a reason. Major issues started to crop up on an alarming amount of my inventory.
Still riding the sales-high and feeling overconfident, I ignored my gut. Instead of taking a small, quick loss on the ones I should have never bought, I made the decision to invest the remaining capital we had lying around into making them right. Assuming the best possible scenario, I severely underestimated the amount of time and money required into making these fringe inventory additions solid and worthy of retail.
This brings me to today, as I sit here and write this post, with a feeling that the entire past eight months have been wiped clean. All progress, momentum, and earnings seem to have evaporated in one fell swoop. And it’s 100% my fault. Not only did I let it happen, I facilitated the necessary circumstance to ensure it happened.
It really only took two weeks to wipe out eight months of progress. Eight months of grinding, hustling, and putting in the effort daily. I was at 3rd and 1; one bad play brought me to 4th and 15.
This is the danger behind ever taking your foot off the gas. This is the danger behind ever thinking that you can relinquish control. The truth is, no one else is looking out for you or for your business. It’s your sole responsibility to push every aspect of your personal success forward in every way. Never make the assumption that anyone will ever act, on their own accord, in a way that will benefit you. Never make the assumption that because certain things seem to be going well, that the trend of success owes you anything tomorrow. Keep the foot on the pedal.
A friend of mine, who operates in the same industry as me, has recently gone through something similar. The big difference is that he has been in business for thirty years. He lost all of his progress and forward momentum over a course of a little over two years. Two years of inaction and relinquishment of control cost him thirty years of business success. Ouch.
I should have learned the lesson from him. The specifics in his case were different, but the underlying reason was roughly the same. I could have learned the concept, and avoided it. But I had to learn for myself, and I had to learn the hard way.
Listen, nothing in life is truly bad when you accept 100% responsibility for it. Everything negative that happened in my business this month, it’s all due to me! Even things that otherwise could be classified as “bad luck”, like a unit requiring an unforeseeable $4,000 repair after it was sold to the customer, that’s still my fault. Had my foot been on the pedal in every other area of the business, that repair bill would not have stung nearly as bad as it did. And wouldn’t still be stinging today.
I consider all this a fortunate occurrence. Fortunate in that I haven’t been in business for thirty years before having this happen. Maybe I’m just less disciplined than he, in that it took him 28 years to take the foot off the gas and me only eight months. That’s fine, whatever it is I’m thankful for it. I’d rather take my hits when I’m young.
If we take complete responsibility for every consequence in our own lives, we also acknowledge that we have complete control over allowing or disallowing those consequences to happen again. Sure I regret the mistakes made, but I have to own them. Learn from them. And use them to create something positive. Namely, a stronger and more resilient business.
The consequences of even a day spent without my foot firmly planted on the pedal are now completely visible to me. They are tangible. I can taste what it tastes like. I know I have to work every day like failure is only one day away. Failure is an inevitability - how will you stave it off today?
Today is the most important day of your life. Today holds all the knowledge and wisdom of the past, and complete control over your future. In this moment, whether you realize it or not, you have more leverage over your life than you had yesterday. Even if it feels like things are crumbling around you.
I’m still in the hole right now, and things are a little hairy for the time being. Direct and indirect consequences of my actions have produced some pretty long term issues that I’ll have to address. I still consider the past month to be the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
My opportunities are smacking me in the face. My foot is back on the accelerator. And I have a clear understanding of exactly what actions I need to take every single day to move this thing forward. Failures and mistakes can be turned into high octane fuel. It’s up to you.
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