Benchmarks 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 […]
Read MoreLeasing Like a Boss
This morning I found a great post on the Executive Link private Facebook group. A current EL member was looking for input on information that he should share with the landowners of various properties that he leases. There were several great suggestions ranging from wildlife population status to water infiltration rates. After weighing in myself, […]
Read MoreEconomic Planning
Dwight Eisenhower said, “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Eisenhower might as well have been talking about ranching. Speaking of planning … How is your economic plan coming along for next year? Things are changing rapidly. Costs and returns have taken some dramatic shifts in the past few years. The […]
Read MoreA Perspective on Gross Margin from Aaron
Aaron Helmick is a pain in the rear. Even worse he is a dairy farmer from West Virginia pain in the rear. 😆 Somehow Aaron managed to marry Tara and that vastly improved his chances in life. Aaron and Tara are alumni of Ranching for Profit and Executive Link. They are amazing and thoughtful people […]
Read MoreBreak Your Legs
Remember in the movies when the bookie’s tough guy would knock on the door and threaten to “break your legs” if they didn’t pay up? Sometimes, I think many of us would be better managers for our operations if someone broke our legs. If our legs were broken we wouldn’t be able to go outside […]
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