Dealing with the Hard Things First

---

In the first year of our existence, Derek and I have been presented with numerous challenges, most of which being something we never learned from college or anywhere else.  Most of them could be figured out with help from mentors, friends, Google, etc…but there are certain circumstances that cannot be figured out so easily.  Derek and I then ask, what are we to do? This has never happened to anyone in the world we begin to think…WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION?

Although we have previously been in the circumstance where we know we are right, but cannot win, we have to make it right for the customer.  At the end of the day, the customer needs to feel like they were treated fairly or they will never come back.  Taking bullets for problems with vendors and outsourced projects are only part of the headaches for us thus far.  We have had to deal with things that were never told to us by anyone or read about in a business book anywhere.

The one thing told to us at a young age (of our business of course!) was to deal with the hard things first.  It is such a novel idea that is not always thought about.  People may think  ”Oh my, a big problem or issue, it will need a lot more time and energy than my day to day situation, I will put it on the back burner and deal with it when I have more time.”

That is the worst thing you can do. You end up overlooking the issue or half-assing it later on.  When something that is a challenge presents itself, you need to deal with it right away.  That way, you can get to your day-to-day operations afterwards and feel good about having figured out a solution to such a problem.

Since living this mantra of dealing with the hard things as they arise, our business operations have been running much more smoothly and our clients have been much happier.  Through some of the worst experiences up to this point, dealing with the hard issues has lead to our best customers.  Even if we screw up or something goes awry, dealing with that customer first and foremost has generated great results for our company as a whole.  This leaves Derek and me sitting and shaking our head about how things turned out as they did, but reminds us to keep with the mantra.

Some things to think about when a tough situation arises:

• Is there something you can do to help accommodate the situation?
  • If so, what can you do?
  • Even though it may not be your fault directly, if it flows through your company (be it a vendor or contractor), you need to make sure you make things right
  • Do not procrastinate on a tough issue
    • The longer you wait, the more likely it will be you forget something in the situation or forget the situation completely
    • Once you have the situation figured out, realize the problems you had and make sure to keep a mental note of them to ensure another situation such as this one does not happen again
    • If you have a bad experience and figure out a solution, make sure to celebrate that experience a little bit.  It is okay to let your hair down and go to a movie or to have a beer…it will keep you sane.
    • Do not be afraid to ask mentors or others for help
    • As I am sure that you have given good advice in the past, the saying what goes around comes around comes into play and someone will be willing to help you out