Big Grower July 2019 - 10

THINK BUSINESS
Taking Care of Your
'INVESTMENT'
People are your biggest asset. What are you doing to
maximize your ROI in your most important investment?
BY MARK RICHARDSON
I
magine life without people. Life is all about
people. These simple statements are not only
obvious but a little patronizing. However, this
theme in business is one of the most powerful, if
properly understood.
Over the years, I have asked many people to
share what they think of the theme " people are
your greatest assets. "
About 95% of the time I hear, " People are what
it is all about, " or " Without people there is no
business. " While these statements are somewhat
true, they really don't get to the essence of why
this theme is important to live by and practice.
In an effort to drill into the proper
understanding, I then ask, " What word is the
most important word in this theme? "
Most will answer with " People! " While people
are important, the most critical word that makes
this a theme is " asset. " The word asset means
investment. If you begin to push the metaphor
of " investment " you really start to grasp the
understanding of this theme.
MAKING THE RIGHT INVESTMENTS
Think about other investments in your
business and life. Your home is an investment.
A rental property is an investment. A piece of
machinery could be an investment. There are
obvious investments such as stocks and bonds.
An investment is something that you expect
a return from. The return may be financial but
it could also be of other area of fulfillment too.
The financial returns are often referred to as the
ROI or return on investment.
With a simple investment, like a CD, you place
XX dollars in a bank and they tell you up front
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you will get Y% interest or return after Z
period of time. A CD tends to be relatively
low risk, well defined and generally a relatively
low return.
Investing in real estate on the other hand
has other investment considerations including
appreciation (or depreciation), cash flow or tax
consequences. As we make the decisions to
invest we not only evaluate the potential returns
but also the levels of energy and risk involved.
When you begin to think about people through
these same filters, some important actions start
to unfold. First, look at your annual budget and
your overhead costs. For most businesses, the
people (including you) are the greatest expense
for a business.
As you drill further into the economics you
realize that you and your people are generally
the difference between a modest return, a
windfall or even a loss. If the people make fewer
mistakes, the business sees better returns. If the
people produce more and you sell more product
in a more efficient manner the business will see
better returns.
These returns are not only just short term
dollars but also create delighted customers,
reviews and referrals. Additionally, if the returns
are positive, your team members are more likely
to stay with you rather than jump ship for a few
more dollars with another employer.
CREATING A PLAN
Now going back to the lessons of other assets
such as real estate. If you want a healthy real
estate investment you must have a plan. This
plan looks at all aspects of the costs and income
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of the property including taxes and your time.
As you begin to plan to maximize the returns
you look at pricing the property correctly, doing
the proper maintenance for both the protection
and to retain your tenant. You also look at the
longer term effects of investing into major
upgrades. With the right plan and execution,
it will be the difference between getting a 5%
return vs. potentially a 20% return.
If you truly believe that people are your
greatest asset, you need to treat your people
with the degree of reverence that a greatest
asset deserves. You must treat your employees
as a greater asset than the products they
are producing and the greenhouses they are
producing them in.
The process to get the buy-in on this theme is
very important. Begin with an open discussion
with the leadership about people value. Go back
and map out the economic effects of people who
have left the company. After you begin to get
the buy in, look at training as an investment not
an expense.
As a leader, a significant percentage of your
time should be devoted to the care and nurturing
of this greatest asset.
Mark Richardson is an author, speaker, columnist
and business growth strategist. He has written
several books on business management including
" How Fit Is Your Business? " and " Fit to Grow. "
His latest book is " Control Your Day Before It
Controls You: The 7 Steps to Mastering Your
Time. " All of his books are available on amazon.
com. He can be reached at mrichardson@
mgrichardson.com.
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10 JULY 2019 * BIGGROWER.COM
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Big Grower July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Grower July 2019