We recently took a long-weekend trip to Denver to see a client and relax for a few days. I noticed something I often notice in airports and it’s most people overpack. It’s summer, there aren’t too many places to go where it’s not warm (meaning no parka to pack), and I can’t see how people need more than a carryon size suitcase plus a backpack for their computer, headphones, book, etc. Face it, most people go places where there are stores and wash machines.
Of course, most of us overpack in life and business also. Too much stuff around our houses, too many clothes in the closet, too large a list of things-to-do around the house, etc. And in business, it’s just as bad or worse.
Business owners and sellers overpack as follows:
- They make things too complicated, often for employees and for customers (ordering and reaching someone for service should be easy not hard).
- They don’t invest in up-to-date technology or processes. Business buyers like it when there’s low hanging fruit, meaning easy upgrades that save time and money and I can’t remember the last time a sold business had all current hardware and software.
- Micromanaging, which slows down productivity and employee growth.
- Making the business, or a critical part of it, dependent on the owner. This is a big one and, as I wrote a few months ago, an owner told me a large firm “beat me up on price” because they said the business was too dependent on him.:
Business buyers also overpack:
- Dreaming there’s a perfect business out there. Wake up, there are no perfect businesses or perfect deals.
- Getting analysis-paralysis. As I say in the preface to Buying A Business That Makes You Rich, buying a business requires a leap of faith and you want to make it off a chair not the roof. But you’re still making a leap, so make a decision.
- Not realizing it is work. It takes effort to locate, analyze, and structure a deal on a mature, profitable (and fairly priced) business. It’s pretty darn easy to buy a crappy business or grossly overpay.
And, in my market of sub $10 million deals, realize relationships rule. Nobody will buy from or sell to someone they don’t like (which also means they don’t trust them). Unpack the ego, get rid of excess baggage, use your team, and get the deal done.
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.” Steve Jobs
“You can lead a man to congress, but you can’t make him think.” Milton Berle
