"We out here rotating under the 5 P's, Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance, y'know what I'm talkin' bout' " - GLC, Poe Mans Dreams (His Vice) by Kendrick Lamar in 2011.
That is the first time I heard this saying/phrase was in 2011. At the time I do not think I fully understood what it meant but I knew it was going to become one of the principles I would carry for a lifetime. But what does it all mean? The phrase says it all but I will try and break it down word for word. I might end up sounding like that annoying primary school teacher that constantly repeats something you know but I have come to realise that as we grow older we tend to complicate things for ourselves which can be simply explained.
Proper
How does one properly do something? As a child you are taught how to do most of the basic things you do on a day-to-day basis. How to brush your teeth, how to tie your shoelaces, how to cross a road, how to act in front of grown ups, how to open a can, 'how to', 'how to', 'how to'! I think you get what I am driving at here. Often these are hereditary traits, passed on from generation to generation. More often than not how you hold a knife and fork is the same way your grandparent will do the same.
So in this context we are talking about how to prepare to make money. An entrepreneur is an individual that manages to bring the factors of production together (land, labour and capital). But they have to prepare. How will I get the land, who's selling it, which area, etc. Who will work for me, how many hours will they work, what will their responsibility be?, etc. How do I get the resources to start up my business, where will the money come from, who can I seek help from?, etc. Properly get ready to answer all these questions. And the best preparation comes from the mind. Prepare mentally, prepare physically and emotionally. How you do things will help you prepare!
Preparation
Prepare! Your journey into any business venture, investment or even a savings plan requires preparation. Layout a well thought out plan. Now that you have thought it out it is time to put it down on a paper. In traditional education they want you to give answers to specific questions and nothing outside of that. In business there are no specific answers. The sooner you realise that the better. Hence why I implore you to write down every single aspect of the business you are about to get into and leave no stone unturned. And even when you do that, you still will not know everything but by that time you would have probably covered at least 80% of each and everything that you are going to go through. You would have prepared your startup capital, you would have prepared your well thought out plan, you would have prepared your target market, you would have prepared for all costs to be incurred, Prepare!
Prevents
Ever heard the saying "prevention is better than cure?" I am sure you are well read and have probably heard this or come across this once or twice. We are currently living in a COVID world and there has never been a time when prevention has been so important. The same way you wear a mask to prevent yourself from contracting COVID-19 is the same way you need to properly prepare yourself to prevent yourself from the risks of conducting business. More often than not people fail in business not because they did not have the resources or the plan but because they were not properly prepared. The life of a businessman is like an oscillation; goes up and down and up and down. You have to prepare yourself for those realities. And what does this prevent? It prevents depression, it prevents unnecessary decision making, it prevents taking bad loans, it prevents you from giving up! Let me emphasise it again; "prevention is better than cure!"
Poor Performance
I have decided to combine the last two P's because they go hand in hand. At the end of the day we invest or get into business to make profit. No one gets into the game to make losses. Hence Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. In this case we are talking about business performance. How is your business performing? Are you reaching your targeted sales? Are you able to supply on time? Are you able to maintain existing business relationships and create new ones? Are you able to make payroll without hurting the business? Are you able to turn a profit? These are all questions that can be answered by your simple income statement which I spoke about in an earlier post. Is your income increasing? If yes then you are performing well, if not then you need to revisit your initial plan and assess your current operations to find the main root of the problem. Profit equals positive performance. Loss equals poor performance. Hence Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance!
SIDE NOTE: ADAPTABILITY
I know that as you get this far you are probably saying I am crazy and you have heard this a million times and it has never worked for me so why must it work now? I hear you and I understand you, I was you. I always asked myself the same question believe me. But I once asked myself this one question, how did those billionaires do it if they came from dirt poor? Were they privileged? Nope, most of them were not. Then how? The ability to adapt is key to success at anything in life and not just in business. Learn how to think on your feet. Procrastination is the enemy of success. Teach yourself how to adapt to situations and always remember that there are two sides to a coin. For every Ying, there is a Yang. Every debit has a credit. Everything that is black has an opposing white colour. I think you get where I am coming from. Learn to adapt and this is something you cannot learn in a classroom, it is a self taught trait.
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