Plan for Success requires a different mindset than planning for problems

 

     Failure often seems to help itself be planned for -- because it is an ongoing, inevitable process of life. People get sick. Equipment breaks. Contracts are not obtained. Someone drives a car through the front store window. And so forth.

     But, even though we (all) want to achieve success, we rarely explicitly plan for it.

     When a business is starting out, it is a good thing to be "mean and lean". This means that people are putting lots of effort into it with as few people as possible. Many do multiple jobs. When I, and my business partner, started our business, I was Vice President of Engineering, head of client support and training, head of sales support, coordinating head of project development and product management, and I was also in charge of cleaning the restroom when it was necessary. We all worked 60 to 70 hours a week -- because we all had a dream of being able to build something that we could profit from and which would provide a useful societal service.

     At Bell Labs, we had a department head who was a very strong technical person and also had a lot of extra energy. He had been quickly promoted from Member of Technical Staff to manager. While at managerial level, his team did great -- because he did all of the work assigned to his team. He had no managerial, or delegating, skills and he chose to not develop them. He did what he did best -- produce products. Not quite as quickly, he was promoted from manager to department head. And there he stuck. He no longer could do all the work (it was amazing he could do the work of seven people -- 40 people was just too much). He slowly developed some managerial skills -- enough to keep his department from falling apart (and he had some good managers reporting to him) but he had reached the top for him.

     Mean and lean -- until you can't do that anymore. People can work 60 hour work weeks for a while -- but not forever. Putting more wicks on the candle just means the wax will be used up more quickly. Juggling tasks can be done when there's only a bit to be done on each -- past that and things will be dropped.

     The "best" time to plan for growth, and success, is when you aren't in the process of running as fast as you can. If you have to do several different roles, clearly identify them, decide on processes that can be used when you are dealing with much larger amounts. Be prepared to split and expand. Tools that are overkill at the beginning can be indispensable as you grow. When we started our company, we were strong on marketing and sales and technical development. We were weak on management and finances. Management skills we succeeded in developing as we went along -- though I am certain that having good, strong, managers would have greatly helped us to build the company. Finances -- that is what eventually doomed us. We made believe that we knew what we needed to do and when we needed to do it. We didn't.

     The first part of growth, and success, in business is structure and function. The second part is product. We had a great portfolio of products. Well respected in the field. An architecture that expanded and met our needs for more than fifteen years. A general base that we could continue to expand in kind -- until we couldn't. At some point, the market gets saturated or technological directions change. "The shark must keep moving or it dies."

     What did we need to do to succeed in this area? Networking would have been number one. It is vital to know what is actually being deployed, what is being marketed, in the field. You can read about maybes in technical and business magazines but the conferences and market displays is what companies are actually investing in and betting on. Second would be partnerships. They aren't vital -- but they disperse the risk in going after the "next great thing". With partners, perhaps you can have four irons in the fire rather than one or two. It is similar to venture capital. Lose on a couple, break even on a few, and hit a home run on one. It is partially a matter of numbers.

     Finally, luck is still part of the business. Luck, as defined as things happening about which we have no known control. Bet on three possible new product lines. All three can fail. Design a new widget that everyone has been demanding. A major company -- with which you don't have the least chance to compete -- brings out a parallel product three months after your launch. Things happen.

     But you can minimize the risk.

A Six Month Reserve: A good goal for everyone

     One of the first suggestions that a financial advisor gives when you sit down with her to determine a savings/investment plan is -- have six months net income in cash for emergencies. Just past tax time in the U.S., my reserves are down but I can squeak by for a number of months with no added luxuries (no purchases, no special food, no takeout/curbside food, no presents, ...)

     I am one of the lucky ones. As we are witnessing in the U.S. (and probably many other areas of the world) people do not have six months of reserves in general. In fact, most people don't even have one month of reserves in savings. Going even further, there are probably a lot of people that are out of money by the time they receive their next paycheck -- living "paycheck to paycheck".

     This is a primary side-effect of steadily growing income inequality. Back in my earlier blog on living wages, I put forth the way people can determine what is a living wage for a person in a given geographical area.  Many people in the U.S. do not make a living wage. If you don't have enough money to pay for all of your necessities, then you will NOT be able to save money in addition. When there is a little bit extra, it is so tempting to use it to buy something desired that has been postponed (perhaps for a very long time). The more people who do not make a living wage, the more people who CANNOT prepare a financial cushion to ride out a disaster (pandemic, economic recession or depression, long-term unemployment, ...).

     OK. You make a living wage. Do you have that six month reserve built up? No? Well, in the first place, it may take a long time to build up a six month reserve even if you put away 1/10 of your salary each month (or more, recommended if you are able). Second, problems happen -- health problems are particularly possible in the U.S. and, even if insured, they are a large financial drain. (If you are NOT insured, welcome to the world of bankruptcy.) Or perhaps your car broke down and needs major repairs. Your parents need to be moved to your home for you to take care of them? Lots of possibilities to drain the reserve and hard to build it up.

     Let's say that no disaster occurs and you have a bit extra each month beyond living expenses -- maybe even a bit more than living plus a few luxuries expenses. What do you do with that money? When I was growing up, I was always in a savings mode. My brother wasn't quite that way so I was around as his personal bank. He often paid me back but it could not be relied upon. In our schools (and, often, in our homes), we are not taught how to handle money -- how to budget, how to avoid usury, how to save, how to invest, and so forth. A lot of celebrities and sports stars fall into this trap -- live high but when they break a leg or lose their popularity, they have not saved while they could. Some do -- they should be the most revered role models and not the ones that spend the most and are the flashiest.

     These examples, and the above essay, are about individuals. What about businesses? Well, quite a few large, often multinational, corporations have "deep pockets" and can take care of expenses, and carry on with business, for months (sometimes years) -- which doesn't mean they may not make business adjustments in anticipation of near-term or long-term needs. Other businesses have a credit line upon which they can draw for a few months of survival. But the small business is really in much the same condition as an individual.

     Small businesses often have a very small profit margin. Similar to an individual, the required cash flow may be considered to be "living wage" -- with any profit above and beyond. They, also, should try to save 1/10 (or more) of the profit each month to build up a reserve. But, as it is with an individual, it will take a long time to build up multi-month reserves. And, even worse than with an individual, many other people's incomes are also dependent.

     And the moral of the story? People need living wages plus. People, and businesses, need financial training. And saving for the future, when possible, is a very important item for the budget.