As 2019 comes to a close later this month, the enterprise value specialists at Ceibass want to be the first to welcome you to the new decade: The roaring 20s? The ambitious 20s? The fruitful 20s?
“Normally, people in our culture do not think in horizons of time like a decade,” said Tom Fochtman, Ceibass CEO. “Maybe, at this time of year, they think about the coming year and what some of their goals and objectives might be for 2020. But if you are trying to build a successful lawn & landscape business, and you want to earn enough money to live a good life now, for you and your family, AND have enough money for 25 – 30 years of retirement, the one year time horizon is too short and may thwart your thinking. Really, where do you hope to be, and what do you want to produce, by the end of the next decade? Welcome to 2029.”
Tom and the team went on to have a lively discussion about what needs to happen in the next decade to produce the outcomes that they are looking for…below are some of their questions and takeaways:
“What does a good life look like 10 years from now, where are you headed, what are your commitments?
“What are your ambitions, what lifestyle are you looking for in 2029, what do you need to do to produce it, how much money do you need?”
“To get the money you need what do you need to do with your lawn & landscape business to produce it, sell it, transition it to employees, grow it, how much revenue do you need?
“It all starts with our intentions, what kind of future are we trying to create for ourselves, for our families, for our employees, for our community, country, world?”
“And how do we intend to grow our business, how do we compete, what new threats do we need to cope with, what new obligations must we fulfill and what new opportunities do we need to take advantage of?”
“You don’t build a successful business by accident. You don’t retire with a lot of money to live a good life haphazardly. It takes planning. And it takes exercises like this one to start exploring and work our way back to the present with a game plan…even though we know the plan will change.”
“Developing the skill to colonize the future we want to create takes skill. Let’s develop that skill.”
“Step one, is where do you want to be at the end of the next decade? What’s your situation? Where’s your company? What shape are you in?”
“Given some of the predictions for the end of the 20s, it’s super important for lawn and landscape business owners to make it happen in the next 8 – 10 years.”
Think ahead. Welcome to 2029.
