Company Blog

Health Checkup

by Adam Zack — February 13, 2019

Good operators have their finger on the pulse of their operation.

My notes show that this is Blog number 200, and man does that make me feel old and long winded. Like everyone, as we get old (but hopefully not too long winded) we require more maintenance. The warranty has long run out and instead of just changing the oil and putting the pedal to the metal like we did in our 20s we regularly need to be poked, prodded, scanned and tested. Colonoscopy? Sounds fun. Blood tests? Sign me up. CT scan? Why not. How about a little cosmetic surgery to nip that turkey neck or relieve those bags under the eyes. Why not?

We care more about our health as we get longer in the tooth because, well, we are more likely to have a breakdown or failure. We want to maintain this bag of bones because we want to get 20 more summers out of it, right? Health care is expensive, but while we can still bitch about that part, it’s still vitally important to our survival. Our business is getting older just like us, and I just don’t see the checkups being done on it like we do on our bodies. Is our employee turnover too high like our blood pressure? Are the wrinkles of age on our equipment and decor 10 years past when the facelift should have been done.

We all measure sales every day, kind of like brushing your teeth or stepping on the scale weekly, but how much sales increase is inflation? The really good operators have their finger on the pulse of their operation. They know ratios, trends and when they are due for that operational colonoscopy and eye lift are due and they schedule the appointments and keep the body that is their business as strong as possible.