Which Way Is Your Deck Chair Facing?

One of my favorite Peanuts cartoons starts with Lucy at her five-cent psychology booth, where Charlie Brown has stopped for advice about life.

“Life is like a deck chair, Charlie,” she says. “On the cruise ship of life, some people place their deck chair at the rear of the ship so they can see where they have been. Others place their deck chair at the front of the ship so they can see where they are going.”

The good “doctor” looks at her puzzled client and asks, “Which way is your deck chair facing?”

Without hesitating, Charlie replies glumly, “I can't even get my deck chair unfolded.”

Do you know which direction your business deck chair is facing? Or are you like Charlie Brown and have trouble getting your chair unfolded?

Do you carve out time to work on your business, or do you spend all of your energy working in your company, being involved with its day-to-day operations and putting out the inevitable fires that seem to spontaneously combust on a regular basis?

I have talked with dozens of members lately. They get started talking about another member's business, about someone else's problems, and then confide in me that they hope and pray it doesn't happen to them. But my view is that some of the changes and challenges we talk about happening to others will greet them at some time in their business lives, too. My point here is that a great number of PEI members are woefully and regrettably unprepared for those changes. Here are some of the questions that have confronted PEI members lately. Think about how you would handle it if:

• The president of the company dies suddenly.
• The major stockholder in your company suddenly wants to sell out.
• You are a distributor or rep and get cancelled by one or more of your major suppliers.
• One or more of your top five customers decides to take his business elsewhere.
• Your heir apparent decides to do something else with his life, or he becomes somehow inca- pacitated.
• A new competitor enters your market.
• You are responsible for en- suring that your valuable peo- ple stay with your company. If it turns out that there is nothing you can do to keep them, who are the first three people you would call tomorrow with a job offer?
• One of your suppliers takes his business direct or decides to compete with you on your ser- vice offerings.
• A major supplier decides to set up yet another distributor in your area.

As you can imagine, the list of questions can go on and on. Two guys I talked with said, “Well, I'd lock the doors and throw away the keys.” That may be an option for some, but not for most of you.

You need to get that deck chair unfolded. Regularly review the threats and opportunities for your business. Acknowledge what got you this far and figure out what can get you the rest of the way. Figure out the best way to take care of your suppliers and customers. Do all you can to avoid surprises. Make a plan and carry it out. When you can, work on the business, not in it.

And if you have already managed to get that chair unfolded, properly placed onboard ship, and are sitting there enjoying the good life, write and tell us all how you did it.

   Current Issue   |   Past Issues   |   Search   |   Contact Us   |   Send Files    |   Advertising   |   www.pei.org

The PEI Journal • Second Quarter 2007 • Volume 1, No. 2 • Contents are Copyright © Data Key Communications, Inc.
All rights reserved. • Nothing may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission of the publisher.