Imagine you were starting out in your business and someone handed you a roadmap of all the pitfalls and problems you'll face in your entire career. This might take the fun out of business for a real entrepreneur, but for the rest of us it would be thrilling to know that our ideas would never fail. Actually, that roadmap does exist. Unfortunately, it's not printed on a single sheet, neatly tri-folded. Rather, it exists in tiny pieces, like a jigsaw puzzle, and it might take years to put it all together. The pieces are bits of wisdom and experience - some of which are handed to you, others you'll have to discover. About 20 yr ago, I assumed the control of Indiana Oxygen. After my first year at the helm, we were near the brink of foreclosure. Fortunately, the company survived my dangerous and disastrous first year of management, and I entered my second year determined to return the firm to the path of profitability. I was open to any reasonable advice that would make us a strong again.
展开▼
