Bean Counter Bookkeeping

For some companies there seems to be no end in sight to this gloomy economy. With constant restructuring it seems at times we can never get it right. Is there ever a time when your company will hit a point it is performing at its optimal level? Where there are no more improvements to be had, no more tweaking to be done. Will you, the business owner, ever be able to sit back and know you have created a well-oiled machine?

Sadly, I believe the answer is no. Even if you have the perfect product or service coupled with the exact price point that produces the right profit for your lifestyle it will never be right. It can never be constant. There will be employee turnover, technology advances, upgrades and new versions, system crashes, and general wear and tear. There are tax increases and rate changes. Laws are passed and guidelines change.

Companies evolve just like families evolve. They age and mature and although at the beginning they may need constant hand-holding that ease up over time there becomes new challenges and new issues. I have come to realize, much like families, the only way for companies to last through the years requires much of what a good mom gives to a family. Here are a few attributes I believe a great mom has: love, care, patience, and guidance. A good mother doesn’t push, she encourages. She creates clear rules and is firm to those standards, bending only when compassion overrides the punishment. She knows when to walk away – she knows when she has done all she can do. She doesn’t judge other mothers but learns from them. She is not perfect but she is sincere, trustworthy. You can count on her.

How has your company evolved over time? Are you in the new stage or have you reached those “teen-age years?” What can you give your company that you are holding back? Are you creating a foundation for you company that will propel it to prosper through 2010?

What would your mom say…?