Complacency

Complacency

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You may recall the anecdotal story of an old fisherman sitting on a pier casting and catching all morning. With each catch, he’d pull out a small ruler to measure it. Some fish he’d keep, while others got thrown back. Upon closer observation, we learn that the ruler is broken and only measures to 9 inches; on top of that, any fish that measures more than 9 inches is thrown back while the smaller fish are kept. When confronted, the fisherman admits that his frying pan is only 9 inches in diameter.

When I was farming, on a number of growing years we put up some huge yields, bigger than my dad ever grew. His feedback was, “It’s too much (crop). What are going to do with it? There isn’t enough bin space!”

In both stories, we see examples of where there is a lack of interest or intent to be better, bolder, etc. And if something did not fit the narrow view, it was discarded as being more work that it was worth. Yes, progress brings about new challenges that differ from those we are familiar, but the opposite (meaning status quo) will eventually lead your business into its death-spiral.

Complacency is an incredibly dangerous business condition. You can’t always see it coming. It may be contagious. Treatment is sometimes difficult if sufferers refuse to consider they may be affected. Complacency causes your business to stop growing. It creates an environment where too often heard around your farm are the 6 deadliest words in business: “We’ve always done it this way.”

To Plan for Prosperity

  1. Know what you do best, and keep striving to do it better and better.
  2. Acknowledge what you don’t do well and get professional help with it so that it doesn’t become your Achilles heel.
  3. Recognize that GROWTH is not just size and scale. Seek out multiple ways to grow.

“Do what you do best, and get help for the rest™” is one of the cornerstones of my advisory work with clients. Complacency can be dealt with quickly with the right help, positive results can be had, and the “habit” can be broken.

MISmanagement

Operational MISmanagement

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I recently had an experience on my least favorite Canadian airline which was so bizarre that laughter was all I could do in the moment.

The original plan was as follows:

  • 5:50pm Chicago to Toronto;
  • 2.5 hour layover at Pearson, relax, eat, maybe get some work done;
  • 10:55pm Toronto to Regina.

While waiting to board the 5:50pm flight, watching time tick on and on, and even though our plane was at the gate and empty, there was still no one boarding the aircraft at 5:50pm. Yet, the information screen at the gate insisted that our flight was “on time.”  I snapped this picture and tweeted it.Operational MISmanagement

At 5:55pm, an announcement was made: due to runway construction at Toronto airport, our departure from Chicago was being delayed until 9pm. We were instructed to go relax, find something to eat, and come back to the same gate at 8pm. (If you’re keeping track, that is a three hour delay which would have us landing in Toronto at 11pm…5 minutes after my flight home was to leave Toronto for Regina. Clearly, I’m not going to make my connection.)

After to speaking face to face with an airline “customer service agent” (you can infer that the quotes are meant to imply sarcasm) I was informed that there were no other flights on other airlines that might get me to Toronto to make my connection. When asked who would be picking up the cost of my hotel room in Toronto since it was clear my connection would be missed, the response was “We (the airline) don’t do that. But I can give you a food voucher for here (Chicago O’Hare), just be back by 8pm to board this flight.” He hands me a $15 voucher, which was about enough to buy a bottle of water and a piece of gum in O’Hare…

As I begin to circle around to find somewhere to eat, I find myself walking right past my gate, and see a line of people boarding the plane!! The information screen at the gate now says the flight will leave at 6:50pm (If you’re keeping track that is 1hr delayed from the original schedule, but a full 2hrs ahead of what was we were told 15 min earlier.) So I board the plane.

Despite the posted 6:50pm departure time, an announcement from the flight deck is made at 7:15pm: “We’re just waiting on a few passengers and then we’ll push back from the gate. Due to runway construction at Toronto Pearson, we will be unable to reach our gate in Toronto upon arrival. So we’re going to push back and sit on the tarmac in Chicago for 1 hour; we can sit on the tarmac here or in Toronto, it really doesn’t matter. So you know, it’ll be about 1hr from push back to liftoff.” I still can’t understand why we needed to board just to sit in the aircraft when we could have remained in the terminal and actually had something to eat…

Finally we have inched our way to the runway. Wheels up at 8:10pm. One hour flight to Toronto, plus the time change, and we touch down at 10:10pm. Because it’s Toronto, there is 15 minutes of taxiing; we’re at the gate at 10:25. I have 30min to clear customs, clear security, and make my connection home. Now if only the 22 rows in front of me on the flight had been courteous enough to let those of us with a connection off the plane first… To their credit, the airline did request that other passengers without a connection remain seated. No one complied.

long lineMy legs still ache from being at a dead run, with luggage and wearing a suit coat, for what seemed like a mile despite likely only being half that. My Nexus card allowed me to bypass the 308 people in line at customs (I was at a dead run, no I didn’t stop to count them) and thankfully at 11pm, there was no line at security. I am grateful to my fellow passenger coming from Chicago, just as late as I, trying to catch his connection to Montreal. He new where to go to get to our concourse (his departure gate was 2 down from mine.) I would have been lost had I not been following him.

They closed the doors to the jet bridge as I ran up to my departure gate. Through gasped breath, I explained in 2 sentences why I was late (regretfully, I may have used a few expletives.) The gate agent was without a doubt the best person I’d been in contact with from this airline on this day. She let me through, I boarded, and got home as planned.

 

To Plan for Prosperity

Operational MISmanagement costs airlines millions of dollars and immeasurable goodwill. Just have a look at United Airlines’ woes over time… Here are my questions relative to my experience described above:

  1. Runway construction at Pearson did not start unannounced on that day. The airline would have known about it for a long time. Why would we only be notified AT the time of original departure (5:50pm)?
  2. How can a 3 hour delay turn into a 1 hour delay in 15 minutes?
  3. Why rush to board only to sit on the tarmac for an hour before liftoff?
  4. People actually missed that flight, and in my mind it was because the airline told them to come back to board at 8pm but was now leaving the gate by 7:20pm. Part of the delay pushing back from the gate was because their luggage was being removed from the plane. I can’t even formulate a question for this, it is so asinine!!
  5. I was likely to miss my connection due to no fault of mine, yet the airline wouldn’t offer to pay for my hotel. How much do they value their passengers?

M-I-S is capitalized because if refers to your Management Information System. Your Management Information Systems, whether you’ve formally addressed them or not, are put to the test as you approach spring seeding. Tracking inventories (seed, fertilizer, fuel, parts, etc.), people (who is operating what & where), and cash (keeping vendors paid, moving grain as required) are all part of your M.I.S. Lose control of one piece of your M.I.S. and see how things are affected.
What are the impacts of seeding too soon, seeding too late, missing a pesticide application window, running out of fuel, or running out of capital…?

You have a system to get your crop seeded, to get it harvested, to manage all aspects of your business in between. It keeps your business running without a glitch, or in the case of a hiccup it provides adjustments to get back on track.

If Air Canada has any sort of “system,” it’s not working. I’m not sure how they stay in business. They could benefit from a good business advisor…

Who is your customer

Who’s Your Customer?

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Twitter was (are you ready for this) “all atwitter” recently over the forcible removal of a passenger from an overbooked United Airlines flight.
I recently picked up on a Twitter conversation where a farmer was railing on “family farms” that are bigger than the family can operate (his logic was around size & scale of a farm that needs hired help is no longer a “family farm.”) His argument focused on how consumers hear “family farm” yet see large businesses that are worth millions, and how that could affect credibility.
I spent this past weekend in Las Vegas; my first time. It was easy to spot variations in customer service that range from excellent to hardly adequate. (FYI: I specifically chose to not use the term “barely” adequate because in Vegas, that has no many other meanings…)

One might think I spend too much time on Twitter. Actually, I find myself spending less and less; I am not an ideal social media marketer.

Regarding United, they made the decision to overbook this flight (and probably hundreds of others in any given week.) They knew it would inconvenience their customers and might even lead to a firestorm on social media (which it did.) By these actions, United has done a poor job of understanding its customers.

The farmer twitter bit about how consumers might perceive the message of “family farms” has some merit. We’ve learned that consumer perception need not be confused with facts (this is known as the post-truth phenomenon) and no matter the message, truthful or otherwise, belief rules all. Notwithstanding all that, the agriculture industry has done a poor job of connecting with consumers to create sufficient trust to ward off this post-truth B.S. we’re now swilling in…

Service in Las Vegas, a city built on tourism, is varied. Cocktail servers in most casinos were terribly uninterested and submissive, while dealers were all pleasant and engaged. The hotel housekeeping staff always offered a smile and “Good Morning!” to everyone that passed by. Servers in restaurants were generally outstanding.

Recognizing who your customer is and how to connect with them stems from culture. Culture is driven by the organization’s leadership, and is reflected in the environment it creates for employees to interact with customers.

To Plan for Prosperity

It matters not if you are United Airlines, a farm, or a Las Vegas hotel & casino, your customer are not your shareholders, your employees, or your suppliers. Your customers are those who purchase or consume your product or service. Your customers are how you monetize the work you do. How are you making it easier for your customers to want to do business with you?

 

ThinkingMan

Thinking Time

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This is following through on something I sort of dared myself to do in a tweet recently:

Thinking Time

I smiled at Danny’s tweet about about the lack of bites while ice-fishing and how it was contributing to crop plan changes for this spring’s upcoming seeding season (or “planting season” as it is also called.)

Thinking time is something that we seem to have less and less of these days. With the constant bombardment from numerous social media platforms, phone calls, text messages, and emails, it is amazing we are able to get anything done. Quiet time, disconnected from our “devices” is not only critical to staying sane (disclaimer: I am not a psychologist and that is not a psychological prescription) it is also required for some thinking time.

Consider the many aspects of your business, and the thousands of decisions you make every day. This doesn’t even touch on the “major” business decisions that need to get made through the course of the year. Many of those daily decisions are reactionary because the situation is something you’ve been through many times before, or you may have prepare for the decision with some planning. Other situations require that you stop what you’re doing to make the decision, whether that be from the situation being something you’ve never dealt with before, or possibly because you just hadn’t considered it and you’re therefore not prepared.

For me, thinking time happens all too frequently; it’s just how my mind is (always grinding away on something.) The challenge for me is that if I’m not prepared to record or act upon (what i think is) a brilliant thought or idea, it can get lost. It’s been suggested that I keep a note pad or recording device with me all the time. A great theory that is tough to enact when I”m driving, or when I’m laying awake in bed trying so hard to fall asleep; both are situations when my quiet time, my thinking time, seems strongest.

My new strategy is to dedicate a portion of each day to thinking time. It’s not scheduled, nor is it rigid in practice. I allow myself the time, possibly a few times each day, to do the creative thinking I need to do in my business when the juices begin to flow. This allows me to take notes of my brainstorming, to elevate my confidence in that I have captured what are (in my mind) brilliant thoughts and ideas, and reduces angst over the “I had a great idea on _____________, and I lost it!” <insert curse words here>

When I was farming, some of the best opportunity for thinking time was in the tractor; I’m sure it’s the same for many of you. The problem is that thinking time in the tractor while seeding is too late to be crop planning. Although, it is a terrific time to give thought to your financial reporting from the previous year and tactics to improve for the current year.

To Plan for Prosperity

There is an almost immeasurable amount of information coming at us from the virtual world and from the plethora of farm shows scheduled across the prairies all winter. To sort out all of the information available to you, and not be overwhelmed in the process:

  1. Set aside some designated thinking time on a regular basis (unplugged, no devices, no distractions;)
  2. Enlist the guidance of advisors who experts in their field;
  3. Give yourself the leeway to make mistakes. Perfection is unattainable.

Thinking time should not be limited to current issues or the next three months. Also include the next three years. Your business is an ocean freighter, not a speed boat; changing course and making adjustments cannot happen quickly, they take time and deliberate action.

dashboard view

Dashboard

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What’s on your dashboard?

If you’re thinking about your trucks & tractors, the answer might be anything from gloves to a coffee mug to a clip for the rifle.

What I mean is “what are you watching on your dashboard?”Truck Dashbaord

  • Oil pressure?
  • Coolant temperature?
  • Exhaust temperature?
  • Seeding Rate?

All of these are important, and no doubt they all get significant amounts of your attention.

What are the consequences if any of these go into the RED?

 

What about your BUSINESS dashboard?

  • Working Capital?Financial Dashboard
  • Debt:Asset or Debt:Equity Ratio?
  • Unit Cost of Production?
  • Gross Margin?

What are the consequences if any of these go into the RED?

 

Which set of gauges get most of your attention? A failure on which set would be catastrophic?

When I was still farming, the first day of seeding in 2014 had one of these go into the red, only I didn’t know it because the gauge failed. In short, the tractor needed an engine overhaul because of severe overheating. Did it break the farm? No. Did it make seeding extra costly, and take longer than otherwise would? Yes. Did we survive? You betcha.

To Plan for Prosperity

We tend to do what we do best, what we like to do, and what we understand. Understanding the safe range, the limits, and the consequences of oil pressure or coolant temperature running into the red is something that is ingrained into us as youngsters who were imploring that we be able to run equipment. Yet, if no one teaches business owners the safe range, the limits, and the consequences of running their working capital or gross margin “into the red,” how will they know what to watch, or to watch at all?

For an intensive strategy on setting up and monitoring your business dashboard, call or email me anytime.

iconic backstop

Backstop

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What’s your backstop?

Recently, I read an article from some economist on interest rates. The premise was that interest rates have to rise in the short term, even though the economic signals aren’t yet supportive of an interest rate increase. The rationale: if the economy hits another pothole, and rates have remained at their historic lows, then there is little in the way of monetary policy options available to kick-start the economy. In other words, if rates stay low and the Bank of Canada (or the US Federal Reserve for that matter) needs to reduce rates to stimulate spending, how can they reduce rates that have no more room to go down? Do we toy with the idea of negative interest rates? It appears we have no backstop.

The challenge now is how to prepare for a potential future trouble spot when there is presently no wiggle room. To increase rates now will all but guarantee that our fragile economy will stumble. By not raising rates now leaves no room to reduce rates in the future (if needed) and all but guarantees that a potential trouble spot will be far more than a spot, it would be a huge stain. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I do not envy Governor Stephan Poloz’s job at all…

Does it seem as though there was too much confidence from policymakers, thinking like it can’t happen to me? Some might say that the policymakers didn’t want to to what it took to prevent fire and now may have to fight fire.

This thinking can also apply to child rearing. Kids who typically get what they want, especially after whining, usually fall into tantrums when parents offer a firm “No.” Without laying a baseline for what is acceptable and tolerable behavior from their children, tantrums ensue. In other words, the parents have left themselves with no backstop.

An effective backstop for your business can apply to many different facets: personnel, equipment, agronomic, risk management, etc. From the financial perspective, your backstop should be made up of several key pieces:

  1. Working Capital (especially cash)
    Strong working capital solves many problems, and prevents even more. It reduces cash flow risk, takes significant pressure off of market risk, and best of all it creates growth opportunities.
  2. Equity (and its relation to debt)
    If your business is weak in working capital and strong in equity, these low interest rates offer the best opportunity to recapitalize your farm. On the other hand, I smiled at a comment made by a client late in 2016 when he was postulating how fun and profitable farming would be without burdensome debt obligation weighing (him) down and pressuring (his) cash flow.
  3. Management Strength and Discipline
    Too often I’ve seen farm businesses that were strong in working capital and equity whittle away at their backstop to satisfy their expansion desires. Strength and discipline is required to not get caught up in the euphoria of more and more assets. It is also required for the business to keep growing (not just in size and scale;) large cash holdings and significant equity can sometimes be a sign of poorly allocated capital. Strength and discipline refers to avoiding both (opposite) extremes, and staying on task and on point with your strategic business plan.

Ideally, your financial backstop is a balance of all 3 points above. Too much, or too little, of any one point will be far less effective as a functioning backstop.

To Plan for Prosperity

Knowing your risks and actively managing them is the key step to understanding how much of a backstop you need. Under-emphasizing your risks or over-emphasizing your backstop both have potential to be detrimental to your business’ health.

tepap-logo

Greetings from TEPAP

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The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers has been described as “a farmer MBA.” Born over 20 years ago at Texas A&M University and the brain child of Danny Klinefelter, TEPAP has helped numerous farm managers and operators improve their businesses in ways they never considered before.

In Session 1, there is Canadian representation from New Brunswick to BC, with the heaviest concentration from the prairies. The US is widely represented from all 4 corners (Washington, California, Florida, and Vermont.) There are 2 participants from Australia.

Everyone has a unique reason to want to better themselves and their business, yet the theme around the room during introductions was similar. Even the Aussies remarked at how the only difference in what they are hearing this week compared to back home is the accent.

Prosperity is at the root of everyone’s reason for seeking improvement. Consider these 3 facets of your life and business when determining where and how you want to be better.

Communication in Business (or with Family)

As Elaine Froese likes to say, “It’s never a problem until it’s a problem.” Why not sit down with business partners, family members, etc, to clarify the issue, and set a path for resolution? We know that the answer is “because it isn’t that easy.” But just because it isn’t easy is not permission to avoid the situation. Consider this: if expectations aren’t being met, and no one is talking about it, you’re setting up for a train wreck! I captured a quote from Dick Wittman this week: “The biggest mistake we make in family negotiation is assuming what’s going on in everyone else’s head.”

Are you ready to seek out the resources you need to help you have the talk?

Financial Knowledge and Management

Every day, I learn more about improved methods to gather, analyze, and manage information, all so that better decisions can be made at the farm. The resources available to farmers today are greater in number and scope than ever before. I have gleaned new process to help determine the age old questions of “rent versus buy farmland,” and “what is the actual ROI on that piece of equipment?” I am eager to use these new tools with clients as soon as possible.

What gaps do you have in your current financial knowledge and management that need to be addressed?

Life Balance

No longer are we calling it “work-life balance” because you don’t have two lives, you have one…and it needs balance. If you are out of balance, have you considered why? The TEPAP faculty recognizes that the participants in the room are overachievers, who, statistically, find it easier to work than to play. This is a challenge for anyone who has the level of passion for their business and industry that most farmers do. What we must acknowledge is that this can often be a challenge for the families of said passionate farmers too.

How have your priorities changed over the last 3 years? Are you adjusting with the changes life brings, or staunchly entrenched in old habits?

To Plan for Prosperity

It’s been said that lifelong learning is one of the key tenets to achieving the life we want to live. And our businesses must keep growing to sustain themselves. It need not be learned, achieved, or practiced all at once. Improvement is a process. You can’t eat a whale with one bite, so start small with some important goals, and then do the hardest part: take the first step.

My First Tractor

Why Tractors are Sexier than Spreadsheets

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Blame Kenny Chesney. He didn’t sing “She thinks my spreadsheet’s sexy.” Across all genres, I’d bet there is no one immortalizing accountants, bankers, and financial analysts in song.

Chesney’s 1999 release, She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy is one of my favorites. At a time when farming didn’t get much attention and wasn’t garnering a lot of respect, it was a feel good jam that pumped me up every time I heard it. Seventeen years later, it still does.

Please realize that my opening statement above is tongue-in-cheek. I do not hold Kenny Chesney accountable for why tractors are sexier than spreadsheets. But the question still begs, why are spreadsheets unpopular when compared to tractors? Both are tools with specific uses. Both tools are effective, highly powerful, and multi-functioning. Both can create efficiency that is almost immeasurable.

Business owners can hire someone to run either tool, the tractor or the spreadsheet. If you were to follow one of the cornerstones of my advice, “Do what you do best, and get help for the rest,” then you’ve already likely hired someone to drive the tractor, right?

A long tenured ag professional, who will remain nameless, recently during a conversation with me describing one of his frustrating client experiences quipped,”If driving tractors is more important than running the business, we’re very near the end.” We laughed at the absurdity of the words, yet were stymied by their truth.

In a meeting with a client recently, we were discussing their growing ability to gather data from their operations. They shared the question posed by their equipment specialist “What are you going to do with all this data?” I instantly shot back,”Just collect it; we’ll figure out how to use it.” The goal is to make data collection a natural part of business activity, a habit, not a challenging task on the ever growing “To Do List.”

What we will do with that data, collected in part by/from the tractor, is more than likely import it to a spreadsheet. In that spreadsheet, we will be able to delve into the figures, sort them into a usable format, and ultimately make decisions that are more informed than ever before.

Direct Questions

Does running the tractor take priority over running the spreadsheet? Why?

If you’re not running your spreadsheet, who is? Does this pose a risk in your mind?

Do you make equipment purchase decisions without consulting the spreadsheet?

From the Home Quarter

Informed decisions lead to higher profitability. Higher profitability has a way of reducing risk. Reducing risk increases confidence.

Since spreadsheets make for informed decisions which ultimately increases confidence, and since confidence is sexy, doesn’t that make spreadsheets sexy?

Back to you Mr. Chesney…

 

 

agex-conf

Musings from the AgEx (Agricultural Excellence) Conference

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For those of you who are regular readers of this commentary, you know full well how I feel about farm shows in general and what it takes to draw crowds. Every major farm show on the prairies is so heavily focused on production, when we are already some of the best, if not THE best producers, in the world. Where we are lacking (generally speaking) is on the management and financial side of the business.

That is why I am such a fan of the Agricultural Excellence (AgEx) Conference. It is 2+ days dedicated exclusively to management. No presentations on crops, weeds, fertilizers or equipment; although, had there been, we would likely have seen 4-5 times the number of attendees. Overheard during networking at AgEx:”Want to get 1,000 farmers in the room? Show them some new equipment, give them a hat and a hotdog…that’s how!” If that rhetoric has more than a grain of truth, it sustains my railing on on the problem we have in the industry.

The title of this year’s AgEx was “Plan and Prosper: Set the Course for Farm Success.” This isn’t a typical preach from the podium event; the format included live debate, panel discussions, bear-pit sessions, and a choice of six concurrent workshops. If you couldn’t attend in person, it was broadcast via webinar.

Here are some of the very high level points made at the conference:

  • As a producer, you sell into a global community. Understand how that affects you (and that means deeper than simple “supply and demand.”)
  • If you expect to remain relevant in an ever changing industry, you must face change with confidence not fight it with vengeance.
  • There is still a large gap to bridge between the generations who farm together.
  • There is a TON of great information, resources, and advice available to you as a producer. All you have to do is ask!

There is much work to do, both on your part as producers and business owners, but also on our part as advisors:

  • We (as an industry) need to collectively come to agreement on how to calculate major financial metrics, such as gross margin.
  • We (as advisors) need to create synergies with all of our clients’ other advisors so as to better service each client.
  • We (as advisors) must elevate and consistently deliver the message that success is defined by management…period.
  • We (as an industry) must support each other to provide a unified front against those who would rather we fail.

From the Home Quarter

It is not difficult to find yourself pumped up and motivated when leaving an event like AgEx. The quality of information and networking available is second to none. I rubbed shoulders with a National Director from one of the largest ag accounting firms in Canada, an international farm advisor, a former diplomat, among others…oh, and I now also have a tour guide on PEI in the form of a young potato farmer!

Excellence is within all of us if we choose to focus on it. If we let fear hold us back, our results will show it (and we shouldn’t be surprised.)

As I will continue to say, “Do what you do best, and get help for the rest.”

success criteria

Success Criteria

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It is always interesting to listen to the variety of different opinions on how each farm views “success.”

For many it is measured by a tangible: number of acres under cultivation, number of combines in the fleet, etc.
For others, it is an intangible: family harmony.
Most of the time though, year by year success is measured in bushels.

Here is my response to a tweet just the other day:

Profit is always the supreme success criteria. Generally, I stop there because so much of the focus at the farmgate is primarily, almost exclusively on production, and it drives me crazy! But we simply cannot ignore the basic tenet of primary production: you need the bushels!

In the commodity business, and I don’t care if it is grains, livestock, oil, or minerals, the only businesses that produce commodities with consistent profitability are those that produce at the lowest cost per unit…period.

What’s the best way to lower your cost per unit? Produce more units, and in this case that means more bushels! Of course, the caveat is that you must produce more bushels without incurring more cost, or at least if costs must increase that their increase is not linear to (ie. less than) yield increase.

I am continually challenging my clients to find ways to reduce their overall costs. In an industry that has dedicated immeasurable amounts of focus on production, it is not unreasonable to admit that many farms are already producing maximum yields for their region, soil type, weather patterns, etc. Without further advancements in plant genetics, increases in yield beyond the average will mostly be achieved by the good fortune of ideal weather during the growing season.

Control what you can control (your costs) and accept what you can’t control (the weather.)

Direct Questions

How do you calculate your Unit Cost of Production (UnitCOP)? Do you calculate it at all?

How do you determine when the chase for more yield is no longer profitable?

What strategies do you employ to reduce your cost per unit?

From the Home Quarter

As read in the tweet above, “How about net profit?” Profit is the reason we’re in business, is it not? A business without profit is not a business, it is a charity!

Business is always evolving, growing, changing…maybe our definition of success should change too.