The great competitor

Some days, you can smile about your competitors' misfortunes. If you listen carefully, you can learn why they failed, so you don't repeat their errors.

Paradoxically, however, as I gloated on hearing the competitors' bad news, I felt a slight shudder of anxiety -- the very wrong things the competitors had done that lead to their losses, I had done myself, with undoubtedly negative consequences. The only difference is one of degree.

Rome is burning. Let's build a mansion.

A few years ago, as my business's downward spiral accelerated, we took a family vacation/business trip, visiting a community where we had some employees in a once-thriving (but now declining) market. I took a few hours from the vacation to meet with a key employees, remarking (somewhat arrogantly) that, since this is a valid business meeting, I would claim two nights of travel, plus the direct costs of getting to the meeting, as a tax deduction.

Three weeks later, realizing our business had reached the red line, I gave (short) notice to the employee and made an enemy for life.

He's losing his job, and I'm taking vacations -- and claiming tax deductions as well -- why wouldn't he be embittered.

My competitor took things a step further. As his business hit a rough spot, he devoted his time, resources, and cash from his business to build a really nice home for his family. Trouble is, he didn't bother paying his taxes. The tax authorities, I learned today, seized everything he owned. His wife left him.

We have a relationship. Let's just use it to make some money.

Most of our business sales arise from understanding supply chain relationships, and ensuring we provide our services at exactly the right place where these relationships count the most.

This is powerful stuff, but we've pushed things too far, without respect for the underlying consideration that, when all is said and done, we must deliver more than we take. Thankfully, this kind of business-damaging behaviour can be repaired, when you realize that the relationship should always be founded on respect for the needs and values of your clients.

Today, I read some fascinating correspondence from a competitor to a third party who had lost business and respect by pushing, arrogantly, for sales without communicating real value. Most interesting are the desperate emails when, after losing the business, the competitor tried vainly for a second chance.

We thankfully have received second chances, but the damage control and repair took several years. We don't take our relationships for granted and look, always, at how we can give rather than take.

Delegation is great. I'll focus on fun stuff.

A few years ago, I thought we had a thriving, viable business with everyone working well at their tasks. So I spent time on things that were more fun and rewarding for me, including (this seems really dumb now) fiddling with an airline's frequent flier program and fighting an Internet-based ponzi scam. At the time, I could rationalize purportedly good business reasons for these distractions, but failed to see that the priority should have been the business.

My competitor, meanwhile, while building his mansion, failed to show up in the office, leaving his employees to do all the work. Trouble is, he wasn't paying his bills or remitting statutory deductions, and his employees were collecting prepayments from clients for services where (after spending the money on personal needs) he didn't have the ability to deliver the end product.

We're picking up the pieces now, delivering some $10,000 in free services to our competitor's victims, one of which is a three-generation business that has survived good and hard times.

Today, as I think about my competitors' failures, I'm thankful that in making the same mistakes that led to their destruction, I didn't go quite as far or deep down the slippery slope; and caught and learned how to change in time.

You may have the same choices.

The choices of growth

About 15 years ago, in the earliest stages of my business, I wrote and edited most of the publications' content. This seemed the 'right' thing to do, as I'm skilled at these tasks -- in fact journalism is in my heart and soul -- and the cost of a staff editor seemed extravagant. But I listened to some wise advice after resuming control of the business after an early sell-out/sabbatical, and hired our first staff writer in 1996.
Suddenly, I felt the load had lifted, and I could focus on growing the business. And we did -- expanding it to Toronto and then Washington, D.C. and other U.S. markets. I had discovered the power and magic of delegation but didn't quite appreciate the elements of management control and effective systems needed to oversee a growing business.
So, as the business began its long and painful three year slide in 2003, the last person I wanted to fire was our remaining editor (at the peak we employed four writer/editors) -- the thought of actually doing all the work myself suggested despair, stress, and pain. But about 15 months ago, we reached the point that unless I made this final cut, our business would not survive.
My decision to dismiss the editor led to the resignation of our one remaining effective salesperson; and we reached 'bottom' this time last year.
This week, Ken Lancastle joins us as staff writer/editor -- reflecting the business resurgence. I feel both relief and excitement as we grow again.
I'm happy, however that I could roll up my sleeves and work as writer/editor over the past year. The work brought me much closer to our clients, helped to repair badly damaged business relationships, and (because I am quite good at journalism), significantly improved the product quality.
Ken, of course, is also excellent at journalism; we tested him with working assignments, and I have rarely heard such enthusiastic references from previous employers. He will have his hands full -- our revitalized sales team is generating piles of work, but of course I can help pinch in and in fact will be sure to write a few key stories every issue from here on.
I learned some important lessons from this crunch and business survival that may turn on the head some of the delegation principals that you may read about elsewhere.
Delegation is fine, but it is folly to get too far away from your core skills and talents. While some consultants like Michael Gerber recommend you focus on business rather than the trade/skills that led you to your business, I now think you should never get too far from the skills, talents and character that led you to business in the first place. In other words, if you are really good at your trade, don't leave it behind, completely, to business management.
Technology has made a lot of things easier and more productive. I found using the Internet, laptop, digital camera and other resources, that my productivity increased by at least 100 per cent -- I simply could research, write, and co-ordinate twice as much work in the same time as when I last edited the publications in the early 1990s. Again, working at the trade gave me a clearer understanding of workload and volumes and this helps me in planning responsibilities and delegating tasks.
Finally, my time as full-time editor allowed me to reconnect with my market, product, clients, and services -- and helped me to understand what we are doing, and why.
Of course, I am not wishing on any reader of this blog the stressful decline I had experienced and you may not be able to perform your original trade for health or other practical reasons. But there is a lot to be said for getting out of the ivory tower and maintaining/rediscovering your original skills. So, of course, follow Gerber's advice and build solid business systems and delegate effectively. Just ensure your systems include some element of your doing the work that allowed you to create the business in the first place.