Most people
have heard the saying “Reinvent the wheel”, and understand that this is a huge
mistake in business. Why do so many
people continue to make that very mistake?
I was playing
golf last week with an individual who owned and operated a successful business
for seventeen years. He sold the
business about a decade ago. The
business has been sold several times since and is currently for sale
again. It probably has not made any
money since he owned it.
Every new
owner of this business has made dramatic changes to improve the
business. None of which has improved the
bottom line. The amazing thing is that
none of the new owners have contacted the individual who successfully owned and
operated the business for seventeen years.
Why did they try to reinvent the wheel?
In many cases, it is smart to hire the previous owner to stay on as a
consultant for a period of time.
People who
want to go into business for themselves have several options. They can start a business from scratch which
has the highest failure rate, or they can buy an existing business, buy a
franchise, or buy some other business opportunity.
Most people
buying an existing business want a successful business and should not try to
reinvent the wheel. The business was
successful for a reason. The other
option is buying a business that is on its last legs and turning it
around. That is what I did when I bought
the Ford-Mercury dealership I mention in Business Fits.
Be careful
with business opportunities as they are not regulated and may be too good to be
true. Some are just scams.
A franchise
is a good option as they are highly regulated and you get a proven business
system. Be prepared to follow the system
and don’t try to reinvent the wheel. There
is a saying for new franchisees, “Spare us your brilliance for the first year.”
Politics goes
to the other extreme. Unlike private
business that must make a profit, the federal government just continues down
the wrong path increasing spending, debt, and taxes. Government’s solution to every problem is to
throw more money at alleviating the symptoms and never addressing the cause of
the problem. As a result, the problem
gets worse and they still throw more money at it. I won’t go into specifics, but I can’t think
of a single political issue where this is not true.
We have to
learn from the past. It is time to drain
the DC swamp. God bless President Trump
and guide him to make America
great again.
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