LBV building circa 1999
Episode 3: Decisions, decisions everywhere
“It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” J.K. Rowling
I consider myself a decisive person in that I will make decisions. Occasionally they’re even good ones. That Leaf, Barley & Vine opened at all is Exhibit “A” for both being decisive and stumbling onto a good one now and again.
One debate I find myself in with some is whether not making a decision can be equally decisive. I contend there are situations where deciding to not do anything is just as powerful as doing “something” and can, in fact have equal positive or negative impact.
Starting a business from conception will test anyone’s decision-making process and ability. The sheer magnitude of things to be considered, weighed, measured and acted upon (doing something or not) can be overwhelming.
The more time spent planning, the more detailed the plans, the more research devoted and options weighed will create a roadmap that make decision making merely the process of consulting the plan and pointing to the answer. Thus time, energy and money are saved.
Under lessons learned and things I would do differently is planning. Doing it again I would spend more time getting the plan for each element more finite and detailed. I would spend more time with the architects, designers and builders on creating more exact and detailed plans to help prevent delays, cost overruns and last-minute snap decisions.
I once wrote about this subject – Invest More - where I counsel about asking critical questions about what the money is being used for and it’s relative value.
Yep, doing it all again I would have the plan pinned down tight and that would have led to lower costs, higher quality and a quicker opening.
Not so fast, my friend.
You see, plans are important, and they will make everything go more smoothly and save time and money. But there’s also such thing as over-planning where so much time is spent analyzing drawings, schematics, paint chips, vendor lists, equipment manufacturers, potential competitors, potential partners, and so on that you never get around to actually doing anything. And if you never open the doors then you never start generating revenue.
So many things look differently when the work actually begins, especially when remodeling an old building. What’s behind the walls does not necessarily correspond to the architectural drawing, interior design ideas look different on the wall as opposed to on the design board, and wines that have great reviews may not work upon being tasted. My favorite story is I kept badgering my contractor about how he wanted to make decisions on many of the cosmetic items at ten o’clock in the morning. My contention was we were going to be a night business and things look totally different at night under the lights than on a sunny summer morning. My advantage since I live in the building is I would wander down at night and just take the place in. It’s amazing the difference artificial light and shadows make to how a place looks and feels.
So many of the plans changed as the work actually happened, and anyone who’s ever built anything knows that doing, undoing and redoing is where the real waste of money comes into play.
In the world of software development it’s called Agile development. Agile development is where you decide what you want the finished product to be and start building it using short development cycles called Sprints. At the end of each Sprint (each one being 2-3 weeks in duration) everyone sits down, reviews the progress, solidifies the next sprint and the work continues. This way at the end of the last sprint you have something that’s nearly finished. The other way – called a watershed approach – painstakingly lays out the entire project before beginning.
The key point is no matter how much time and effort you spend planning once the building starts you’re going to discover things different from the plan. What’s on paper just doesn’t always translate to reality. This is where staying true to the vision and knowing what the finished product is supposed to do is imperative but the road getting there is filled with change.
I would say with LBV it was a bit of a mix. For one thing I had to have some of the architectural design complete in order to pass the city’s project review. Plus I had to have some idea what this thing was going to cost and be able to hold people to their estimates. And yes, I had overruns and it went over budget but almost without exception each one caused the finished product to be better and true to the vision.
But along with other lessons learned, the “let’s look at things at night” one is a keeper. Next time I’ll have all decision-making meetings at 10PM.
Next: Episode 4: It’s sometimes better to be lucky
“It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” J.K. Rowling
I consider myself a decisive person in that I will make decisions. Occasionally they’re even good ones. That Leaf, Barley & Vine opened at all is Exhibit “A” for both being decisive and stumbling onto a good one now and again.
One debate I find myself in with some is whether not making a decision can be equally decisive. I contend there are situations where deciding to not do anything is just as powerful as doing “something” and can, in fact have equal positive or negative impact.
Starting a business from conception will test anyone’s decision-making process and ability. The sheer magnitude of things to be considered, weighed, measured and acted upon (doing something or not) can be overwhelming.
The more time spent planning, the more detailed the plans, the more research devoted and options weighed will create a roadmap that make decision making merely the process of consulting the plan and pointing to the answer. Thus time, energy and money are saved.
Under lessons learned and things I would do differently is planning. Doing it again I would spend more time getting the plan for each element more finite and detailed. I would spend more time with the architects, designers and builders on creating more exact and detailed plans to help prevent delays, cost overruns and last-minute snap decisions.
I once wrote about this subject – Invest More - where I counsel about asking critical questions about what the money is being used for and it’s relative value.
Yep, doing it all again I would have the plan pinned down tight and that would have led to lower costs, higher quality and a quicker opening.
Not so fast, my friend.
You see, plans are important, and they will make everything go more smoothly and save time and money. But there’s also such thing as over-planning where so much time is spent analyzing drawings, schematics, paint chips, vendor lists, equipment manufacturers, potential competitors, potential partners, and so on that you never get around to actually doing anything. And if you never open the doors then you never start generating revenue.
So many things look differently when the work actually begins, especially when remodeling an old building. What’s behind the walls does not necessarily correspond to the architectural drawing, interior design ideas look different on the wall as opposed to on the design board, and wines that have great reviews may not work upon being tasted. My favorite story is I kept badgering my contractor about how he wanted to make decisions on many of the cosmetic items at ten o’clock in the morning. My contention was we were going to be a night business and things look totally different at night under the lights than on a sunny summer morning. My advantage since I live in the building is I would wander down at night and just take the place in. It’s amazing the difference artificial light and shadows make to how a place looks and feels.
So many of the plans changed as the work actually happened, and anyone who’s ever built anything knows that doing, undoing and redoing is where the real waste of money comes into play.
In the world of software development it’s called Agile development. Agile development is where you decide what you want the finished product to be and start building it using short development cycles called Sprints. At the end of each Sprint (each one being 2-3 weeks in duration) everyone sits down, reviews the progress, solidifies the next sprint and the work continues. This way at the end of the last sprint you have something that’s nearly finished. The other way – called a watershed approach – painstakingly lays out the entire project before beginning.
The key point is no matter how much time and effort you spend planning once the building starts you’re going to discover things different from the plan. What’s on paper just doesn’t always translate to reality. This is where staying true to the vision and knowing what the finished product is supposed to do is imperative but the road getting there is filled with change.
I would say with LBV it was a bit of a mix. For one thing I had to have some of the architectural design complete in order to pass the city’s project review. Plus I had to have some idea what this thing was going to cost and be able to hold people to their estimates. And yes, I had overruns and it went over budget but almost without exception each one caused the finished product to be better and true to the vision.
But along with other lessons learned, the “let’s look at things at night” one is a keeper. Next time I’ll have all decision-making meetings at 10PM.
Next: Episode 4: It’s sometimes better to be lucky
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