Wharton / LMC Advanced Business Acumen by Steve Thielman

 

As you’ve read Nick’s notes, a lot to absorb.  I’ll be breaking down this information in bites to reinforce the comprehension.  Do not mistake this as a ‘what we did in Philly’ as much as real education for all of us to share/use/discuss.

 

The dealers attending spanned from the west coast to the east coast.  Supplying Clint Eastwood’s house, regularly leveling a $4 million dollar home to put up $10 miilion dollar home on Cape Cod, Jewish communities building sukkahs (look it up), supplying $20 million in engineered lumber to one client, 80 LLCs connected to one lumber company, wood gutter actually exists (Boston gutter), growth over 10% considered crazy talk, culture perceived as a case study vs reality, supplying 40 story apartments (1 bedroom $4000.00/month, seriously), timberframed direct ship barn packages with six figure profits,  payment on account with multiple sacks of cash….the stories outside of the classroom provided a lot of perspective to how/where we stand, what to learn from and what to strive for in profitability.

Thanks to our ownership for the vision of development and the Drexel group for making these educational opportunities possible.

 

 

How the Best Get Better:

 

The pros that say I made mistakes all the time are the best.   Reflect on your SELF, embrace the truths.

 

Cal Ripken:  100 games to correct his swing.  100 times to truly develop a change into natural habit.

 

JFDI:  Ulitmatley nothing happens unless we act upon the decisions to improve.

 

Finance: 

 

I’m in marketing or delivery, why do I need to know?

 

1. Knowledge permits participation in resource allocation.  Where do we spend.
2. Professional welfare tied to financial performance.  What we earn.
3. Help de-politicize strategic decision making.  Smart spending.

 

ROA:  Return on Assets (2 drivers)

 

1. Profitability.  How much we earh on each sale.
2. Efficiency:  How much we earn based on our resources (equipmet, people, processes).

 

Opportunity Cost:  What is it?  Think in terms of quotes and no sales to show for the work.  This is opportunity cost.

 

I’ll leave this installment with a case study discussed.   Ask Nick, Paul or myself what the actual outcome was…answer will also be provided in a future blog.

 

Negotiation Test:

 

Roosevelt’s campaign manager produced a pamphlet with a copyrighted photograph on its cover.  3 million copies of the pamphlet had been produced.  It had to be used and there was no time to re-do it.  The cost of using the photograph was $1.00 per pamphlet.  The campaign was short on funds.  The photographer, a man named Moffet, was hard up for money and hard to reason with.  As the campaign manager,  what did you negotiate?