Cattle Profits and Taxes
During the Ranching for Profit School, we introduce three issues involving money: economics, finance, and income taxes. We spend most of our time on economics (generating value and keeping profit) then some time on finance (cash flow and investment), and less time on income taxes. The reason for that order is based on the overall […]
Read MoreAccess to Cash Creates Opportunities
This fall it has been energizing to engage with hundreds of ranch business owners from across North America through the Executive Link Program we lead, as they tackle tough challenges and exciting opportunities in their businesses. At our fall Executive Link (EL) meeting we do a ½ day continuing education program. This time John Haskell […]
Read MoreRFP Successes
The Ranching for Profit School is sometimes called the “MBA of Ranching” or referred to as “better than college.” The RFP School has an amazing curriculum that can have enormous impacts on the alumni and their ranches, but I don’t like those comparisons. Here’s why: you will hear and interpret things differently in each stage […]
Read MoreDon’t Screw Up the Windfall Profits
2023 is shaping up to be a record profit year for many in the cattle business. I know not everyone is participating as there are regional droughts and specific situations for some, that will take you out of this opportunity. Nevertheless, for some the stars have aligned. The last time we saw record profits in […]
Read MoreBenchmarks are Overrated
At the Ranching for Profit School, we teach people how to use benchmarks to identify deadwood in their businesses which allows them to find focus areas for managerial leverage. When we finish teaching the benchmark section participants are excited to run their numbers in the RFP format and compare them to the RMC Benchmarks to […]
Read MoreDangers of Free Time
Free time is dangerous to those who have been raised to believe that one must always be physically busy in the ranch. A business in our Executive Link (EL) program recently eliminated a major enterprise that wasn’t working economically and hadn’t been for some time. They were able to make this brave decision, with the […]
Read MoreWorking Backwards
One of Stephen Covey’s seven habits of highly successful people is to “start with the end in mind.” We use this a lot at our Ranching for Profit School, particularly during the evening coaching sessions when students are preparing their economic numbers. The Ranching for Profit economic model breaks down a business into gross margins […]
Read MoreThink Outside the Office
In the Ranching for Profit School we challenge you to separate your life from your business. Too many ranchers identify as their work and never develop a sense of who they are outside of the ranch. Not only does the business suffer as a result, so does the rancher’s family. There are many ways to […]
Read MoreFeedback Loops to Aid Decision Making
If you were to come upon a car wreck, which turns out to be your neighbor with terminal cancer, would you worry about their next chemo appointment? Probably not, your first concern would more likely be CPR or stopping the bleeding. This is about the extent to which we generally discussed the feedback loop at […]
Read MoreLearners With Top 10 Qualities
We have just finished a spectacular collection of Ranching for Profit Schools. Since this past December we have conducted 7 RFP schools that each had an average attendance of 50 amazing participants. Hands down the quality of the participants makes for a good school. We are so fortunate to work with outstanding participants that I […]
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