Running into Trouble? How do you Know?

When do you know you’ve run into a problem?  If you’re anything like me, I usually figure out that I’m in trouble when I’m neck deep in water, the boat has sunk, and I have no paddles. This runs true for many in life as well as in business.  When I was in elementary school, we used to have educated people come to the classroom and speak to the students.  People like doctors and dentists.  They would speak and give demonstrations on proper health and dental care, long before such things become too graphic. You might find yourself familiar with this narrative…

“Here, chew up this tablet and we’ll see how well you brushed your teeth this morning.”

“Ewww, my teeth are all RED!”

Time passes…

Sensitivity to cold and heat….

Time passes…

Cavities form.

Time passes…

ROOT CANAL…

Time passes…

CROWN…

Get the picture?  While this is not just a dental nightmare, this could be any kind of problem.  They start out small and consistently grow into epic issues.  Perhaps, you bounce a check one day.  Okay, you have overdraft protection for that.  A small bank fee, no problem.  If you have good relations with the bank, maybe they’ll even reverse the charges. Petty cash a little short this month?  We can make it up next month.  Cash flow problems escalate quickly and usually exponentially, until there is no safe way back from them.  So how do you recognize when you are getting into trouble?  When do you start to take action?  What action do you take?  When does the symptom become a full-blown issue?  Do you continue to take stop-gap actions or seek help to figure out what the overall cause of the problem is?

As with any problem, figuring out the answer is never easy, and, it may turn out that the initial answer isn’t really the answer, merely the answer to a symptom.  If you were to have a medical or dental problem you would seek an expert who would ask questions, often uncomfortable questions, before making his or her conclusions.  In business matters, I would suggest the same.  Seek out an advisor, who is more interested in finding the actual solution to the underlying problem than making a fast diagnosis.  You’ll be better served in the end.