L. Bart Adams

I know the expression is actually “on a slow boat to China,” meaning it takes a long time. The supply chain is in a state of chaos originating with shutdowns from the COVID worldwide pandemic, and even as a small business in rural Utah, we have not been immune to these effects.

I understand why inflation is heating up—first, government stimulus in the form of one-time payments and monthly payments for child tax credits. Increasing the spendable income of consumers drives demand for consumer goods. Second, supply chain issues for lack of shipping containers. 

The best explanation for the supply chain issues I’ve read is from Lazaro Gamio and Peter S. Goodman’s article in the New York Times called "How the Supply Chain Crisis Unfolded." As I understand it, when the pandemic hit, there was increased demand for masks and personal protective equipment throughout the world. China produced most of these items, which subsequently used up the supply of shipping containers to distribute these in-demand goods. Meanwhile, the shutdown reduced the production of goods to export back to China. Consequently, the price of the containers increased because of the reduced supply. As pent-up demand has grown for other goods, the ports have been logjammed to compound the issue. It is a complicated issue that I’m learning more about daily.

Some of the items we’ve struggled to procure include equipment parts, packaging materials, and chemicals. In one case, we needed a bearing to repair a torque hub for one of our compost turners. The replacement part was unavailable until 2023, thus forcing us to purchase a new torque hub for around $12,000 to remedy the issue. We had a customer run into our trailer door during delivery, causing enough damage to require a new door. We are waiting for the parts that are still out 6-8 weeks. We replaced a garage door on a rear entrance to the farm that took four months to receive. In another case, we have to order paper bags for packing mushrooms with eight week lead time.

The article also points out that Just In Time (JIT) Manufacturing/Inventory has contributed to supply chain issues. Many companies, mine included, have scaled back the amount of onsite inventory to preserve cash flow. JIT works on the assumption that the goods and services required are available quickly. The supply chain issues exposed the cracks in the JIT model for manufacturing and inventory management.

Many questions remain. How much longer will inflation last? When will the supply chain loosen up? How can we change our purchasing process to mitigate a future event like this? 

Several months ago, we started using employee engagement surveys with our employees. It measures employee engagement along 12 different elements. It has been an eye-opening experience to review the results with our management team and learn where our employees believe we are coming up short. It has led to some great discussions and resolutions to improve our management practices.

In my opinion, employee engagement is a way to measure your company's culture. Culture is difficult to define objectively. Conversely, I believe we can each subjectively judge whether a company has a good culture.  We know it when we see it.  With employee engagement surveys, we can more easily quantify, on an ongoing basis, how our company culture is doing.

Our survey showed that as a management team, we struggle in the area of praise and recognition.  This result was surprising to me because this is something I focus on continually with the management team. However, as is often the case, this leadership practice is not cascading down through each department.

We read articles about praise and recognition and discussed these at length as a management team. We used it as a theme for our weekly meetings for a month.  Since there are 12 elements, we will continue this practice using one per month as a theme for our management meetings.

We plan to conduct this survey on a biannual basis to measure our engagement and, in turn, our culture. It will be interesting to see how if and how we improved.

Recently, I went on a week-long trip with my wife to an all-inclusive resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Before departing, I made a conscious decision to leave my phone home. I wanted to have true separation from my business to have time to decompress and rejuvenate. (My wife had her phone, in case of emergencies, they could contact me.)

Sitting by the pool each day, I could catch up on some of my reading lists. I finished two books and started a third during this week-long excursion. I must admit, it was nice not having the distraction of my phone to keep me from focusing and learning from the books I was reading. Even a month after the trip, I still find myself quoting from the books I read. My retention rate during this time was certainly higher than usual.

I spent more quality time with my wife, which was the most important part of the getaway. With me running the business and running our household with four busy children, it was important for us to connect and rekindle our bond. Looking back, I wish she would not have brought her phone either. I found it more of a distraction for me because she was still texting her friends and our children throughout the trip.  (Note to self: book a trip where there is no cell service!)

When I returned home, I was nervous about the number of missed emails and phone calls. Here is the final tally:

• I had 259 unread emails
• I had six voicemails

That’s it.  Of the 259 emails, only 25 required a response. I was shocked at how much junk mail I received for newsletters and updates that I had signed up for over the years. This realization has caused me to unsubscribe to 99% percent of those emails. I learned that the return on time from reading the emails was not significant enough to keep the subscriptions.

Of the six voicemails, only 3 required a response. None were urgent. I attribute this to my management team. Since I’ve owned the farm, I have been deliberate in the delegation of roles and responsibilities, which was the payoff.

In conclusion, I would encourage all business owners to leave their phones home for their next vacation or extended weekend getaway. The benefits of rejuvenation, connection with loved ones, and relaxation far outweigh the important work you may miss.

Several years ago, I learned about a concept called Free Days from Strategic Coach. (Strategic Coach is a coaching program for entrepreneurs developed by Dan Sullivan. I was attending the program for three years.) Free days are part of the Entrepreneur Time System developed by Mr. Sullivan. A free day is 24-hours being away from your business and not being connected in any way to the farm. The purpose is rejuvenation.

I was very diligent in protecting my free days at the start of the program, and over time, I have slipped into the old habits of checking emails and our business website on my sort-of-free days. I don’t consider myself a workaholic, but the business is always on my mind, and I rarely disengage entirely from the farm activities.

Several years ago, I took a week-long vacation to a remote cabin on a lakeside. I did have cell phone service, but I committed to staying disconnected from the business during that period. It was indeed a time of rest and recovery. I recall being energized by the experience and ability to take on the daily challenges of business ownership with outstanding clarity and energy. I have not been as diligent in those efforts since that time.

I commit myself to actual free days as I prepare to leave for a week-long getaway to a resort in Florida with my wife.  We are about to go to the airport, and I have decided to leave my cell phone home. (My wife will have her phone for emergencies with our children.) I have packed a new notepad and pens with three books that I’ve been eager to read. We have no scheduled commitments during our stay. Our sole purpose is to rejuvenate and increase our connection as a couple.

As I left the farm yesterday, I told a longtime employee that I would leave my phone home for the entire trip. He said, “well if you can’t leave us for a week now, you’ll never be able to leave us for a week.” Comforting and wise words, to be sure.

You often hear of business owners who have had a difficult time making payroll. It seems that most entrepreneurs have a story. Here is mine.

During my first year of ownership, in 2013, we struggled with growing enough mushrooms to supply our market demand. We also had many equipment struggles. We had to purchase four new forklifts, complete a major overhaul on our steam boiler, rebuild a water tower for our chilling system, and numerous compost turner issues, which led to purchasing a “used” compost turner. To top it off, the line of credit from our bank was approaching the credit limit. The combination of these elements was forming the perfect cash flow storm.

I started extending my payments to vendors to improve cash flow for the near term. It got to a point where I was three weeks past due on many of our accounts. The time came where I could not extend these vendors anymore without paying long-term consequences. The time came for the perfect storm to hit our shores. We were not going to make payroll.

To make the next weekly payroll, I had to act fast. I liquidated all of my savings and lent it to the company as a loan from the owner. Next, I negotiated with one of the most prominent vendors to hold off on payment for an additional three weeks on top of the three weeks we were behind.

I never made a more significant sale than selling this idea to my wife. She needed to believe in me and the progress we were making at the farm. She needed to believe that I could restore our life savings in a timely fashion. She needed to believe that the company could recover. She believed.

We made payroll that week.

The following week, I negotiated with my bank to change the way the credit limit was calculated. This more favorable credit limit gave us the breathing room we needed to be current with our vendor payments and pay back my loan. To improve our production, we started increasing the number of trays for each mushroom crop, increasing our ability to meet the market demand and improve profitability. Our financial picture began to be more favorable.

My “making payroll” story happened over three years ago, and we are still recovering from the financial consequences, namely paying down the line of credit. I believe this experience was a test from the Almighty to see how bad I wanted it. Did I want this business to be a success? Was I willing to put it all on the line? Did I have what it took to sacrifice for my employees and business success?

Yes.

One afternoon I was speaking to my eleven-year-old daughter Ellie about the mushroom farm. I was explaining part of the mushroom growing process, and she nodded in agreement, but clearly, she did not understand what I was sharing. I looked at my wife for guidance, and she mouthed to me, “keep it simple.” So, I back-peddled a bit and tried to explain the concept in more simple terms. I’m afraid I was unsuccessful.

The following week, I attended a Vistage Executive Summit in Salt Lake City. One of the speakers presented an idea that we should use The Six and Sixty Rule in our communication. Six and sixty means keeping your communication simple enough for a six-year-old to understand and valuable enough for a sixty-year-old. As he shared this teaching with the group, I immediately thought about my conversation with Ellie. Unfortunately, that conversation ended without understanding or usefulness.

Language Challenges

The workforce at the mushroom farm is about 70% Hispanic, with Spanish being the primary and only language spoken. I, unfortunately, don’t speak or write Spanish. Therefore, I must have a translator for most of my communication with my Spanish-speaking employees. My translators often have difficulty sharing my thoughts because of my habit of speaking and writing in a more technical form.

Using the Six and Sixty rule has helped me in my communication with my employees. For the past several months, I have written a weekly newsletter. It has been a learning process to see which parts of the bulletin the employees read and understand. By using the rule, I’ve focused on simplifying the message without diluting the benefit to the readers.  It’s an ongoing challenge to share technical information with our employees, but the advantages of using this rule make it worth continuing the practice.

I hope this post has been easy to understand and valuable for all readers, regardless of age. Happy communication!