What I learned about business from football and bourbon

When the New England Patriots came off their 2017 Super Bowl win over the Atlanta Falcons, coach Bill Belichick attributed their success to “No Days Off”. He coined the mantra as a reference to how hard the team works.

As farmers and chefs, you know “No Days Off”. It’s not a formula for success (though it can help), it’s just a way of life. In the restaurant business – you need to keep cooking until all guests are fed. Unlike many industries where you can finish a project up the next day, a chef must finish up all projects each day. And for a farmer, the animals need to be fed and watered every day. Animals don’t take a day off either.

When you work this hard just to stay on top of the day-to-day operations, it’s hard to imagine spending an extra 30 minutes on the side work… that bookkeeping stuff; marketing or other office work.

I get it!

I also have a busy season like that. From December to March, my feet are nailed to the floor under my desk. All my farmer clients need their business plans written and cash flow budgets done before the growing season begins. I can’t drag things out until April when I have more time.  As I remind myself when I see pictures on social media of friends hitting the ski slopes or frolicking on the beach, “make hay while the sun shines.”

No Days Off.

February was particularly hectic. Over one 7-day period, I flew to Lancaster PA to present two talks at the PASA conference. Then, I prepared for and presented 5 – two-hour talks. I didn’t have time to prepare in advance because the week before was just as busy. In addition, I wrapped up 2 business plans; and launched projects with 3 new clients. The last thing I wanted to do was talk with perspective clients or promote my business on social media.

I know it’s important, but, damn, I’m tired, and I just want to read a trashy novel and drink a glass of wine in front of the fire.

I realize that for a farmer or chef, this hardly seems like tough work. And to be sure, it’s not physically demanding the way your job is (I know how demanding your job is). But the principles are the same: the day-to-day work gets so overwhelming that it’s hard to find time for the other work: the “on” the business work instead of “in” the business.

For me, that’s the marketing and outreach that ensures my phone will ring again come April when the current workload subsides. I’ve been through this cycle enough times to know that I’ll have a lull in business from April to July if I don’t keep on top of the marketing from December to March.

While the “ancillary”work for a farmer is different, it’s equally, if not more, important. That ancillary work – the bookkeeping –enables you to have a business going forward. It helps you answer all the questions about your business, like:

• Can I afford to hire employees this year?
• Does a new farmstand make sense?
• Can I afford to purchase a new tractor?
• Should I focus my growth strategy on pigs or poultry?

And all these questions boil down to one: “How can I make more money?”

The only way to answer that question is to look at your historical numbers. You can see what worked, what didn’t, and make informed decisions going forward. And that requires you to keep on top of your bookkeeping systems.  Even during the bat-shit crazy summer season.

So how do you make the time? Here are four tips. (Feel free to share more with me!)

KonMari your work space

I’ll be the first to admit that when I get busy (like these past few weeks), my office looks like a paper bomb exploded. And the messier my desk becomes, the harder it is to work and think clearly.  Before going to bed, when my brain wasn’t capable of productive work, I took a chapter from Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Upbook and started tidying up. I went through every piece of paper and filed it or threw it in the recycle bin. I kept a clipboard on the side and jotted down my to-do list of all the action items that emerged as I cleared away the detritus.

When my desk was cleared off, I had a clear idea of what I needed to do; and an inviting workspace to do it. 

>> Ben Hartman, author of The Lean Farm offers great suggestions on creating an efficient workspace.

Get the right support

The fact is: we can’t do it all ourselves. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. Certainly, you can do every task, but is it the best use of your time? Does it make sense to hire someone to take some chores off your plate?

As I started to think about hiring someone to help me with social media; it was tempting to find someone for $15/hour. I mean, how hard is it? And what college student isn’t on social media all the time.

But hiring someone for $15/hour means that I need to coach them to use the right voice (my voice) and double check their work. Will they even know how to measure the success of a campaign? While a qualified person is substantially more expensive per hour – they get the job done right the first time, work faster, and work independently.

With some of the “ancillary” tasks off my plate, I can focus on what I do best and enjoy: things like setting up QuickBooks and creating financial projections in Excel.

>> For more thoughts on delegating your to-do list, here’s an article from the archives. 

>> Kitchen Table Consultants offers a wide variety of support services for food and farm businesses – from bookkeeping to marketing. If you call them, let them know I sent you!

Reward yourself

If you’ve been to one of my workshops, you know I’m a big proponent of bourbon. For me, it’s a symbol of checking out and relaxing… having a little treat to reward to yourself for doing the not-fun work. I realize that not everyone drinks, and if you do, bourbon may not be your beverage of choice. What little treat can you reward yourself with, or enjoy while, taking care of your bookkeeping?

Figure it out now

It’s no wonder why so many farmers dislike bookkeeping – if you don’t have a good system (or have QuickBooks figured out) it’s frustrating trying to get all those transactions in right. As Elaine Lemmon from Kitchen Table Consultants said, “It’s no fun if you’re frustrated.”  So, take the time now, when you have space to think, to figure out how to do your bookkeeping and chores. Set up your systems now so that it’s not frustrating later.

>> I’ll be offering a 3-part series on QuickBooks to help you get unfrustrated. And of course, you can find all sorts of video tutorial on my website.

We can’t get away from the “on-the-business” work, but we can make it more enjoyable. Need more support? Drop me a line.