Episode 7: How much is too much?
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done” Bruce Lee
It seems like the theme of “too much” played into a lot of things during the formation, creation and realization of LBV.
How much time was too much on trying to sell or lease the building? As I’ve mentioned before my first option after Bonnie died was to sell the building followed by the second option of leasing it to other tenants. Starting a business was the third option. I maintained a running debate/dialog with myself on how much time to allow the hunt for someone else to continue.
How much is too much on determining if the economy will ever recover? Starting a new business is risky in the best of times and in the best of places. Michigan has been neither and may not be for a while yet. Back in October 2008 I posted this blog – Dark Days - that gives an early preview of things to come.
How much is too much to invest? Once I decided to go forward came the stark reality that this thing was going to cost some dough. How much would it cost and where would the capital come from? Trying to go through the traditional routes of obtaining capital would prove to be frustrating. I wrote about it here – Getting it
How much is too much involvement from others? Going solo versus taking on partners was another major decision. Spreading the financial risk was appealing, but so was the thought of not having to consult others along the way unless I chose to.
How much is too much daily involvement? I did not start LBV as a career change but as an investment. But, I am the majority owner, it’s housed in my building and I live above it so naturally I’m going to be around. But how much time is the right amount to spend down there? I don’t want to annoy people but I don’t want to seem uninterested. Where’s the balance?
So let’s take a look at how each of these played out:
How much time was too much on trying to sell or lease the building? There was never a totally right or wrong answer but it was a constant companion until I reached a point of no return with LBV. What was the point of no return? I’m not sure there ever was an absolute crystal clear line of demarcation on this. More, as time passed and elements of the building and business fell into place the price point of selling or leasing steadily increased. Whereas in the early stages I would have made someone the deal of the decade the price point kept moving to where the amount to get my interest got big and one to make me actually go down that path would be dizzying.
How much is too much on determining if the economy will ever recover? I’ve written about the state of the Michigan economy many times, probably too many, but here’s another one – Smoochy. The bad economy has been a double-edged sword. People simply don’t have as much money and that’s combined with people leaving the state for better employment opportunities. So there are less people spending less money. Not the optimal climate for a new business that’s predicated on disposable income. On the other hand, the availability of skilled labor and the ability to get them at bargain rates has probably never been better. So, to quote Harry Callahan, do I feel lucky? Yeah, I guess I do. Time will tell.
How much is too much to invest? I have enough experience to know that no project in history ever gotten done on time or within budget. On the other hand if you don’t draw some lines in the sand you have no hope of even coming close to a time or budgetary deadline. I put a very aggressive budget in place but not an aggressive timeline. My rationale around that was the old “time – money – quality” theorem. Professionally I’ve always impressed upon people that I can give them any two of those three elements but not all three. That is, if you want something quick and with high quality it’ll cost you. If you want something with high quality and not a lot of money, it’ll take some time, and so on. Well, I certainly wanted quality and I needed to hold a hard budget, so the timeline got to be the wild card. Ultimately I overspent the original budget but hit spot-on my personal “this is what I really believe it will actually cost” number with the quality intact.
How much is too much involvement from others? Since I’ve told each of the partners this already I’ll confess it to you as well. Yeah, I wish I would have gone solo. Why would I say that when Brian is a great friend and has been a fantastic business partner and as I wrote in Episode 5, LBV would never have turned out like it did without Kim. Well, because the absolute risk is still on my shoulders. It’s mainly my capital, it’s my building and it’s my town and sometimes I’d rather not have to consult with others. Now that I have that little demon out in the open let me tell you this as well, Going solo would have been a terrible mistake. So there! I just have to follow my own advice from this post – Devil
How much is too much daily involvement? This has been the most interesting one. I obsessed about this before we opened quite a bit but everyone would say to me “you’ll figure it out”. And I have. Well, actually the customers figured it out for me in that I continue to get comments on a very consistent basis that they like me being around. Something about “the owner” paying attention hits a sweet nerve. So by virtue of the fact that I don’t have a traditional life these days in that I have the time and proximity to pop in I do. After all, it is a place I would hang out at even if it wasn’t mine. When I’m down there I try to follow the lead of arguably one of the most successful food/restaurant owners in the area Ari Weinzweig of Zingermann’s http://www.zingermansroadhouse.com/. What does Ari do when on the floor? He wears the same clothes as his statt, carries a pitcher and refills water glasses. What a great way to stay in touch with the customer experience. Many know who he is, many don’t. Very cool
Next: Episode 8: Lemonade
It seems like the theme of “too much” played into a lot of things during the formation, creation and realization of LBV.
How much time was too much on trying to sell or lease the building? As I’ve mentioned before my first option after Bonnie died was to sell the building followed by the second option of leasing it to other tenants. Starting a business was the third option. I maintained a running debate/dialog with myself on how much time to allow the hunt for someone else to continue.
How much is too much on determining if the economy will ever recover? Starting a new business is risky in the best of times and in the best of places. Michigan has been neither and may not be for a while yet. Back in October 2008 I posted this blog – Dark Days - that gives an early preview of things to come.
How much is too much to invest? Once I decided to go forward came the stark reality that this thing was going to cost some dough. How much would it cost and where would the capital come from? Trying to go through the traditional routes of obtaining capital would prove to be frustrating. I wrote about it here – Getting it
How much is too much involvement from others? Going solo versus taking on partners was another major decision. Spreading the financial risk was appealing, but so was the thought of not having to consult others along the way unless I chose to.
How much is too much daily involvement? I did not start LBV as a career change but as an investment. But, I am the majority owner, it’s housed in my building and I live above it so naturally I’m going to be around. But how much time is the right amount to spend down there? I don’t want to annoy people but I don’t want to seem uninterested. Where’s the balance?
So let’s take a look at how each of these played out:
How much time was too much on trying to sell or lease the building? There was never a totally right or wrong answer but it was a constant companion until I reached a point of no return with LBV. What was the point of no return? I’m not sure there ever was an absolute crystal clear line of demarcation on this. More, as time passed and elements of the building and business fell into place the price point of selling or leasing steadily increased. Whereas in the early stages I would have made someone the deal of the decade the price point kept moving to where the amount to get my interest got big and one to make me actually go down that path would be dizzying.
How much is too much on determining if the economy will ever recover? I’ve written about the state of the Michigan economy many times, probably too many, but here’s another one – Smoochy. The bad economy has been a double-edged sword. People simply don’t have as much money and that’s combined with people leaving the state for better employment opportunities. So there are less people spending less money. Not the optimal climate for a new business that’s predicated on disposable income. On the other hand, the availability of skilled labor and the ability to get them at bargain rates has probably never been better. So, to quote Harry Callahan, do I feel lucky? Yeah, I guess I do. Time will tell.
How much is too much to invest? I have enough experience to know that no project in history ever gotten done on time or within budget. On the other hand if you don’t draw some lines in the sand you have no hope of even coming close to a time or budgetary deadline. I put a very aggressive budget in place but not an aggressive timeline. My rationale around that was the old “time – money – quality” theorem. Professionally I’ve always impressed upon people that I can give them any two of those three elements but not all three. That is, if you want something quick and with high quality it’ll cost you. If you want something with high quality and not a lot of money, it’ll take some time, and so on. Well, I certainly wanted quality and I needed to hold a hard budget, so the timeline got to be the wild card. Ultimately I overspent the original budget but hit spot-on my personal “this is what I really believe it will actually cost” number with the quality intact.
How much is too much involvement from others? Since I’ve told each of the partners this already I’ll confess it to you as well. Yeah, I wish I would have gone solo. Why would I say that when Brian is a great friend and has been a fantastic business partner and as I wrote in Episode 5, LBV would never have turned out like it did without Kim. Well, because the absolute risk is still on my shoulders. It’s mainly my capital, it’s my building and it’s my town and sometimes I’d rather not have to consult with others. Now that I have that little demon out in the open let me tell you this as well, Going solo would have been a terrible mistake. So there! I just have to follow my own advice from this post – Devil
How much is too much daily involvement? This has been the most interesting one. I obsessed about this before we opened quite a bit but everyone would say to me “you’ll figure it out”. And I have. Well, actually the customers figured it out for me in that I continue to get comments on a very consistent basis that they like me being around. Something about “the owner” paying attention hits a sweet nerve. So by virtue of the fact that I don’t have a traditional life these days in that I have the time and proximity to pop in I do. After all, it is a place I would hang out at even if it wasn’t mine. When I’m down there I try to follow the lead of arguably one of the most successful food/restaurant owners in the area Ari Weinzweig of Zingermann’s http://www.zingermansroadhouse.com/. What does Ari do when on the floor? He wears the same clothes as his statt, carries a pitcher and refills water glasses. What a great way to stay in touch with the customer experience. Many know who he is, many don’t. Very cool
Next: Episode 8: Lemonade
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