Masonry Magazine November 2009 Page. 23
Starting a Business Is Easy;
Staying in Business Is Not!
MASONRY NEWS CONTRACTOR TIP
Drive through town and look at the many buildings that have housed businesses that have come and gone. I'll bet some of the business being conducted in those buildings has changed 10 different times during the last 50 years. Yet, someone is there operating, trying it again.
You see it time and time again. Someone in town starts a new business and has tons of local support at first. The business owners begin to make money and appear to be on their way to becoming successful. Then, success leads to becoming comfortable. The business owner, and maybe even the business manager, stops doing the little things that make a big difference, and business begins to slide. Soon, customers begin to notice, and the doors close. The buildings rest idled until the next guy comes a long, and the cycle repeats.
A friend of mine and his wife started a restaurant about 10 years ago. The building they chose previously had housed a hotel, a convenience store, and several different restaurants during the last 30 years. Everyone in town was excited when they opened and came out to support them. They had a wonderful all-you-can-eat salad bar and great food. After doing well the first year, my friend and his wife got comfortable. They stopped doing the little things, like keeping the lettuce fresh on the salad bar, and who wants to eat brown-tinted lettuce? When the quality of their food dropped, so did their customer count. After a couple of years, the doors closed. Last year, new owners opened another restaurant in the same location. So far, it is going well for them. I hope they don't get too comfortable and let their guards down as well.
Many business owners have become successful by working day and night for years. However, some get comfortable and start taking more time off than ever before, thinking things always will be the way they were when they were scratching day and night to build the company. Or, they buy things for their friends and family and become celebrities in their community. While they enjoy their success, the company slides in a wrong direction since the little things are no longer attended to. One day, they wake up and wonder where it all has gone and why the company is no longer making money. The next thing you know, the hard work and earnings vanish. I am sure you have witnessed this in your own community.
If you put a frog in a pan of hot water, it will immediately jump out. However, if you put the frog in cool water and heat it up slowly, the frog will get more comfortable and will stay in the pan until it boils itself to death. I am guessing that frogs would not do well running businesses.
I hope your business is doing well. If so, remember all those little things you did to get it to where it is today. Those little things make a huge difference, so keep doing them. It would be nice if you could relax when things are going well, but you can't. In fact, during the good times, you have to be scraping and saving to make it through the next inevitable down times that are sure to follow. When you do decide to relax, make sure it is when you are ready to retire. (Sounds like getting out fast would be another subject for another good tip.) Stay tuned.
Damian Lang has a masonry contracting firm in southeast Ohio, along with three other companies. He is the author of the book "Rewarding and Challenging Employees for Profits in Masonry." To order a copy of his book or to attend one of his seminars held specifically for mason contractors, call Sherry Wittekind at Lang Masonry, 740-749-3512.
Provided by Damian Lang, President of Lang Masaery Contractors, Inc., and EZ Great Corp.
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