Good Morning, some early reading before the papers arrive! Two friend’s recently came to me for advice and a decision about their business, so I thought I’d put it to you for your thoughts. Here is the story, see what you think. (For confidentiality reasons I have used alias’s to protect identities.) In 1997, Mr “Red” was running a new company, and Mr “Blue” his junior. Both had a vision, ‘to have the best possible van to run their business from’. Mr Red was the boss, so he drove. One day Mr Red saw the van of his dreams, but alas as with any dream van, it carried a hefty, hefty price tag. Mr Red worked hard, but no matter what he did he could never seem to have enough money. “How am I ever going to afford it?” he pondered. So he decided that if he couldnt make enough money, he would have to borrow enough money to get the van. After all, business was good and the van was the most important part. So that’s exactly what he did. He borrowed, and borrowed big. Mr Red was very proud of his new van. So much so that he wanted to show it off. The van dominated his conversations. He started taking it to parties to show how well he was doing. He wanted people to marvel at it. He loved the feeling of parading it, and as the drinks flowed he would embellish more and more about how great the van was. One fateful night after a couple of drinks at one such party, he was driving home thinking how pleased he was with this great van, when he lost concentration and crashed into a tree. The Van was a right off. Now the insurance company wouldnt pay out as Mr Red wasnt paying attention, and as a result of his drinking, a five year driving ban was imposed on Mr Red. Things were looking bleak for the business. How were they going to pay this huge loan back with no van so no business? The business looked doomed. Mr Blue stepped up and took over. As the boss and driver he had to make tough decisions on how to keep the business viable but sustainable. He bought a smaller van and worked hard to pay back the loan, while ensuring the business profitable. For the first year Mr Red was embarrassed, his pride told him it was “one of those things”, and “nothing could have been done”. He longed for the days when things were good and he was in charge. Over the second and third year, Mr Red was getting frustrated “can’t you see? Why don’t we just borrow some more money and get a better van like last time?” he said. But Mr Blue stood firm and said “no, we can’t afford it and that’s how we are in this mess, if we work hard and change our ways things will come right”. Life was tough, but sure enough business began to pick up. Slowly but surely they were able to trade up vans and build the business in a prosperous and sustainable way. 5 years have now passed. The loan is all but paid, the business is growing and getting stronger and the van is impressive. Both are still aiming to have the best van on the market, something that Mr Blue is sure will be possible in the next few years, and Mr Red’s ban is up, he’s served his time. Mr Red is eager to be the driver again. He’s seen the newest top of the range van and he wants it. Mr Red has spotted a new loan that they could at a push, be enough get them both the crème de -la crème van. Neither can choose who should be in charge, so they came to me as an outsider to make the decision, and herein lays the dilemma: Who should I give the keys to: Mr Red or Mr Blue, you decide………. Luke Evans
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 14:00:00 +0000
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