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I have run my own business for more than fifty years. One of my primary goals has been to earn a profit. The idea behind this is simple:  No profit, no business.  To stay in business you have to meet a payroll on time as well as pay your rent, electricity, and telephone bills.

When asked what I want from my business, or from my life, I have often answered with a single word:  More.

If you were to ask the owners, or top managers, of any “for profit” business in the United States how much profit they would like their business to earn next year they would almost certainly confirm my former answer:  More.  After all, if “some” is good, isn’t “more” better?  And aren’t managers rewarded with financial bonuses and promotions when profit increases?

Perhaps.  But I would argue that in the United States today the unceasing quest for more profit is the enemy.

Trained as a CPA, I know how to analyze and evaluate expenses on an Income Statement.  But as a business owner and investor I have also learned that the pursuit of profit incurs many severe costs that will never appear on a financial report.  For example:

1. At the moment I’m a passenger on a flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii on “We Get You There So Shut Up and Suffer” Airline. The plane is old, not well maintained, and the legroom in Economy is deplorable.  For my next trip I’ll try “Anyone Else” Airline, even if it costs me more.  “Shut Up and Suffer” may earn a greater profit this year, but not next year.
2. I often offer an incentive out of my own pocket when I’m selling something. My friend Ed, a university professor, spends up to ten percent of his salary to help his students.  We are not focusing on profit, but on value.
3. At seventy-seven years old I sometimes wonder if I have “sold” more of my life to work than I should have. On the teeter-totter of life when financial gain goes up, must happiness go down?  Often yes.  In my case I’m comfortable with my decision, but I decided when I started out not to reach too high for profit.
4. I find that many businesses, both large and small, fight for every penny. Up to a certain point a struggle may be needed to survive, or maybe it’s just for sport.  But after a point there is a cost, mental and physical, which I call the friction of conflict.  You will never find “Cost of Conflict” on the financial statement of Exon, Apple, or my company.  But the Cost of Conflict is always paid for in sick tummies, throbbing headaches, or failing relationships.
5. The goal of more is often unreachable. Failure to Exceed last year’s profit becomes a failure.  But if your salary goes down instead of up might you enjoy yourself more?  There is always a price, often heavy, to be paid for the unrelenting pursuit of More.

Capitalism may be forever, but your lifetime is finite.

I also believe that you can earn and keep more money when you invite more fun into your life, when you let your mind wander in the shower, and when you come into work with a fresh outlook.

I’m on vacation today, and writing this blog is fun even though it doesn’t earn a dime.

Of course, tomorrow I have a ticket back to Los Angeles on good old, and I do mean old, “Shut Up and Suffer” Airline.

Alan

Most marriages begin with deep love and high hopes.  Over a period of time, however, love fades, high hopes languish, and the relationship becomes burdened by disappointment that is revealed in overt and covert disapproval.

This decline can be prevented, and my faith was restored on a flight from Dallas when I sat next to Hank, a tall Texan, who spun the following tale which gives me hope for all of us.

“Alan, this morning Angela, my wife, left the lights on in our bathroom.  Again.  Now that used to bother me because every time I leave a room I hear my father’s voice warning me to ‘Turn off the lights when you leave the room.  Electricity is expensive.’  Dad was sure thrifty.”

“So what did you do this morning?”

“Well, when I found the lights blazing this morning, long after the sun was up, I turned them off.  Angela was gone somewhere.  She’s been really busy and, frankly, I don’t mind her few – I call them ‘misses by the missus’.  I just smile and take care of the problem myself, including the occasional dirty dishes in the sink.”

“So burning lights and dirty dishes don’t bother you?”

Alan, not any more.  No, sir.  When we were first married four children ago we had the following talk.

“Angela, when you left this morning you left the bathroom lights on.  Again.”

“Oh.  Right. Hank. And did you leave your pants on the floor?  Again?  Did you put your shoes on the shelf?”

“Uh, well . . . “

“And when was the last time you washed your car?  Or should I say, when was the last time you had it washed for you?”

“Alan, she used to call these ‘messups by the mister.’”

I smiled.  “Hank, in my life I’ve had similar experiences.  We’ve all have disappointments with our life partners.”

“Yup.  Y’know, Alan (he patted me on the shoulder), I learned a long time ago that when I complained Angela just complained back more.  And I know I‘m not perfect.  So I just plain gave up pickin’ at her, and she let go of pickin’ on me, and now we get along just fine.  I figure that nitpicking is the losing side of life.  I look at her wonderful caring for me and the kids, and I’m real happy with the total package.  Why bother with what, back on the farm, we called “hog tying a greased pig.”

I laughed.  “Hank, you should talk to my dad.  When I was twenty-one, and getting married for the first time, he said to me, ‘Alan, don’t expect your wife to change.  Take her like she is and enjoy the heck out of your life.’  Of course, I didn’t listen to him.  What do parents know?”

“Son, I’m a guessin’ that you and I have both learned a lot in our time on this planet.”

On my way home from the airport in Los Angeles I ran my car through a car wash.  I was getting tired of those bird droppings which had been on the roof of my car for weeks.

Yessiree.

Alan

Years ago I saw a comedy show in Inverness, Scotland. I still remember one of the comedian’s jokes.

“I’m on a seafood diet,” he said.  “I see food, I eat it.”

All too true.

I recently read a study about candy dishes at offices.  When the candy was placed on the edge of someone’s desk they ate more than when it was placed twenty feet away.

In my twenties, when I was newly married, a friend asked me why I didn’t often buy my wife a new dress.

“It’s not the cost of the dress that concerns me.  I’m bothered by the lost income on the money for the rest of my life.  That lost income makes the dress pretty expensive,” I said.

Yesterday my son Craig sent me an article that highlighted how many Americans teeter on the edge of financial ruin.  Forty-seven percent of those interviewed said they could not come up with four hundred dollars to meet a sudden emergency. This group included many who earned more than one hundred thousand dollars a year.

What do these examples have in common — Eating food when you see it, spending money when you have it?  Both illustrate the natural human impulse to indulge a desire for instant gratification.

When a tribe killed a large animal years ago, the meat couldn’t be preserved, so everyone ate as much as they could. That desire was important for self-preservation. Today binge eating is dangerous. Most everyone has, at times, eaten too much and suffered the consequences later.  “Moments on the lips, years on the hips.”  At one time in my life I weighed two hundred and seventy eight pounds. I found it difficult to stand up after sitting on the sofa.  Many health issues are caused by binge eating.  Strike one against instant gratification.

Today we use money to obtain what we need. But our supply of money is limited. If we buy a new car today we may not have enough money for dinner next week.  In graduate school I met a teacher, Louise, who was paid at the end of each month.  During the three or four days before her next paycheck she often had nothing to eat.

In People Tools for Business, I wrote about a wise professor’s top ten rules for business.  The first rule: “Don’t run out of money.”  The tenth rule:  “Don’t run out of money.”  I personally know businessmen and women who spend more than they have on shiny new equipment, unnecessary research, or a large support staff. When they can’t pay the bills everyone suffers – their families, suppliers, and employees.  That stress can be a killer.  Strike two against instant gratification.

My solution for both problems is this:  train yourself to enjoy the process of deferred gratification.  Look forward to the quality, not the quantity, of your next meal, and put less food on your plate right now.  Half a sandwich for lunch works for me.  I can enjoy the second half for dinner.  If I don’t see it, I’m less likely to eat it.

With money, make it fun to save.  Lorry, a friend at work, used to have jars in which she would put money for a college fund, a vacation, or a new dress.  She made a game of saving, and always had enough money to meet her needs.

I know this may take time and may not be easy at first, but it’s fun to teach yourself to play the long game. As Shakespeare wrote, “Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short.”

Alan