What I Know Now That I Wish I Knew Then

In a few weeks, I’m going to do something I’m not particularly good at. I’m going to stop working.

At 71, after 32 years owning and operating a restoration company and another 11 years working with restoration business owners as a consultant, I’ve decided it’s time to retire.

Before restoration, I installed floor coverings. So basically, I spent the first part of my career putting floors down, the next part tearing them up after water damage, and the last 11 years telling other people how they ought to run their businesses.

Apparently, that qualifies as a career path.

Looking back, I know a few things now that I wish someone could have convinced the younger version of me to believe. I spent plenty of years thinking I could work harder than everyone else and somehow outrun every problem. That strategy works until it doesn’t.

Here are a few lessons I learned along the way.

Being Busy Isn’t the Same as Being Successful

At times, we had trucks everywhere, phones ringing, employees working overtime and jobs stacked up.

It felt great. Then I’d look at the financial statement and wonder where all the money went.

Revenue is exciting, but profit lets you sleep at night. I learned that being busy and being profitable are two very different things.

Know your numbers. Understand your costs. Don’t confuse activity with accomplishment.

Hire Carefully, and Deal With Problems Quickly

Most business owners, me included, have probably kept someone too long, hoping they would turn things around. Hope is a wonderful thing. It is not, however, a particularly effective management strategy.

Be fair. Coach people. Give them an opportunity to succeed. But when you’ve done those things and the situation still isn’t working, deal with it.

Your other good employees already know there’s a problem. They’re waiting to see whether you have the courage to address it.

You Don’t Have to Be the Smartest Person in the Room

When you’re the owner, everybody comes to you for answers. Eventually, you start believing you’re supposed to have all of them. You’re not.

Some of the best decisions I ever made came when I stopped talking long enough to listen to a technician, manager, or office employee who saw something I didn’t.

Hire good people. Ask good questions. Then get out of their way.

The Business Should Serve Your Life, Not Consume It

There will always be another job. Another upset customer. Another employee problem. Another month that needs to close. But there won’t always be another ballgame with your kid, dinner with your spouse, a family vacation, or a Saturday afternoon with absolutely nowhere you need to be.

You can build a successful company and wake up one day realizing the business owns you, not the other way around. Trust me, that sneaks up on people.

In the End, the People Are the Scorecard

I’ve spent most of my life around damaged buildings, stressed customers, hardworking employees, and business owners trying to make good decisions with imperfect information. Here’s what I’ve learned.

The buildings get repaired. Trucks are replaced. Equipment becomes obsolete. Revenue records are eventually broken. What lasts are the people you helped along the way.

If somebody became a better employee, better leader, or simply a better person because you took an interest in them, that’s a pretty good return on investment.

I’ve had a wonderful ride. I’ve made good decisions and some spectacularly dumb ones. I’ve had successes, failures, and plenty of lessons that cost considerably more than the tuition should have.

If I could sit down with that younger version of myself today, I’d probably give him all this advice. He probably wouldn’t listen. But maybe somebody reading this will.