Friday, March 9, 2012

Macros versus Micros

Top down management. Greece will ruin all of us.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan

Yes there are 3 links. Open them in new tabs easier to flip back and forth. Michigan is about as populous as Greece is. Michigan has a median income of $44627. Even though it is not a fair comparison to Greece’s $27624 GDP the US has a $48147 GDP per capita. Who is the superpower here Greece or the US? Now that you have answered that question and asked, when was the last time Greece bought my product or when did I buy a product or service from Greece. You have to ask yourself, why does our market move because of Greece.



The answer is it should not. Greece is a micro not a macro. If the rest of Europe is sound Greece is irrelevant. Your neighbor can’t pay for his cell phone you can. Does that mean you can’t pay for yours next month?



We have silly, fickle nonsensical markets right now. Milk futures for April milk have changed over 18.1% between January 3 and March 8, 2012 they will be up today (my prediction). That’s the entire profit of most farms WOW!

http://www.dailydairyreport.com/data/ddr010312.pdf



http://www.dailydairyreport.com/data/ddr030512.pdf



http://www.dailydairyreport.com/data/ddr030812%20.pdf



So did you lock in prices in January or are you waiting?



This article is not even about pricing our locking in pricing it is about what you spend your time managing. You are the CEO or the CFO do you oversee (delegate) the micros and manage (do) the macros? While you enjoy milking the cows (helps employee morale once in a while) you make more money working the ration to save $.50 per cow with no loss of milk or components. Locking in contracts for milk price and picking proper insurance products to protect the business that’s where the money is. The big things first, delegate the small stuff and ask to get reports how many cows are bred and how soon. You don’t have to do the work just help (enable) others to do it well.



Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.

Dale Carnegie

Friday, February 24, 2012

Is “Commercialism” good for economy?



Is Commercialism  good for economy?

Here is a blog I wrote in December of 2009 but did not enter. It still stands today.

The last couple of days have been revealing to me that world we live in is changing. One of the ways is the way we buy things. When you are in a brick and mortar store you look for the sale signs or how much it has dropped from what previously was fair. When shopping on the internet we compare prices at several places at lightning speed either through comparison sites or multiple tabs or windows open.

But are we receiving more for our money or being played? The recent Black Friday is an example my wife came to me and said this has never been cheaper and may not be there again for a long time.  Yesterday, December 3rd, I found it on the front page of Yahoo cheaper.

2 days ago a friend called me for a great deal on phone unlimited and high speed internet from our current provider for local phone service. I logged on to the site and found out a $79.00* deal cost $129 per month without even changing any options.  $50 difference is this false advertising? I will leave that to you.

Are there any businesses that give you the straight talk or are we all becoming car dealerships? Loss leader, Bait and switch, Incomplete comparison and others are commonly used to lure consumers in then increase sales and margins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Advertising_techniques

We recently were involved in a real estate transaction where the contract (that I would not sign) was revealed only after we had wasted 3 weeks of our time bargaining. The contract was so one- sided it basically said they keep your earnest money even if the seller cannot complete the deal.

Springing Acres welcomes dairy farmers to view our rates online Literature and Application . There are no points, application fees, recording fees, origination fees, variable rates ect in our leases.  A copy of an example lease is available immediately after we have approved you application and are doing the farm visit. We are a No Bull Business.