I was driving home after a business meeting, I had a cooler with cold water, plenty of fuel and the 231 miles should be behind me in just over three hours, barring traffic or construction. I wanted to get home by supper time, enjoy a nice home-cooked meal, sleep in my own bed and spend the upcoming holiday weekend with my wife.
My cell phone alerted via the weather app and I was approaching the two counties where it was said that a storm would produce high wind and hail. My thoughts then turned to my new truck and images of ping pong sized balls of ice bouncing from the hood and windshield. I could see the thunderstorm on my left coming from the South-Southeast. I pulled over on the roadside recalling my always used business advice given to many a client, “It is a poor plan that admits no modification.” I reached into the console and pulled out the road atlas. Let’s see, Missouri now Kansas now Missouri again. Got it. Travel 21 miles to Butler and take 56 West for 18 miles then resume northbound on 69 highway. Here we go.
Soon after taking the detour It began to rain and I set my wipers at intermittent mode which worked well for about ten miles. Then the deluge. Hard, heavy rain began to fall. As I turned up the wiper speed one setting at a time, I went to maximum wiper speed before I could clearly see the road. That’s when the thought (and the song) hit my mind, “I can see clearly now, the rain is gone; I can see all obstacles in my way.” Almost immediately the rain began to slow and then fall lightly. I was heading North in only a few minutes this time following the storm. Had I continued with my original plan I would have driven directly into its’ path.
Obstacles to business plans are sometimes predictable and sometimes from the blind side. I frequently tell associates and clients that, “if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” As with my road trip I was fortunate enough to have technology and open minded enough to amend my plan. I must admit that in my younger days I would have opted to forge ahead and try to out run the storm. However, even with my weather app and GPS technology I did get a little archaic when I referenced my road Atlas. I liken that to looking that up in your Funk and Wagnalls rather than doing a Google search, but hey, it worked.
My life’s work has been to develop business plans and do analysis for auto dealers and entrepreneurs, finance representatives and lenders and others who need to see more clearly regarding their prospective or current business plan or model. Like any other field of work, we look to those who can offer success stories and share experiences when they did try to drive through the storm and what those results turned out to be. Oh, and for anyone who needs consulting and training or the best technology available in a DMS please contact me at your earliest convenience.
I have a special offer for the first to tell me who the artist was and the year the song was released.
Talk soon.
-Mike Eskina, June 29nd, 2018