Don’t quit

I was going through some old papers the other day and came across a poem that I wrote down on a piece of notebook paper when I was facing the worst business dilemma I had ever seen. Several employees had embezzled huge sums of money from our warehouse and distribution company and we were on the verge of bankruptcy. My company had just been reduced in size from 69 employees to 19 in three days and our offices and warehouses were virtually empty compared to their former glory. My “friends” and business acquaintances had gone with the wind, (and money), and I felt alone and betrayed. Things looked pretty dim at the time of this writing. The thieves had cleaned out our bank account and stolen most of our inventory. After the dust had settled I was $289K “overdrawn” at the bank, my inventory was decimated, and I owed nearly one million dollars. I actually did not see how I could recover. I was getting calls from sunup to sundown every day of people threatening to sue me. My banker, attorney, and CPA all told me to just take bankruptcy and get it over with.

Ode to the Entrepreneur

The clatter of an empty warehouse rings its doomful sound;
Dark and damp, baleful now with closed doors and broken windows.
Everywhere I look I see dreams unfulfilled!
Hard work is over; and so it is.
Where are the well wishers, the friends, the admirers now? Where
did they all get off to?
Failure, the American dream will haunt you. Heartbreaking is the
crux of failure’s sting.
One must recover from such stings and fight back to the top.

I found the last line interesting that even back then that I was determined not to quit; something I have held near and dear to my heart my entire career. Miraculously we did recover from this and avoided bankruptcy and not a single vendor ever sued us. We repaid every dime we owed and built up cash reserves. In fact I learned more about running a business during that period of time than at any other. We had so many serious problems that it was a daily struggle just to survive and I had to be at the top of my game every single day. It took seven long years to recover from it, but recover we did and in fact grew the business into something far better than it had been. As I looked through my folder of papers from that era, I came across a little sign that I had posted in my office that was my mantra for seven long years during the recovery. I cannot tell you how many times I must have looked at this little sign and received encouragement from it. (BTW If you have seen this before somewhere and notice my version is different. It was anonymous anyway and I took the liberty back then to add a verse of my own that better fit my situation.)

Don’t Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you are trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit —
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
When you are worried and full of doubt,
Just remember that
Success is failure turned inside out —
So stick to the fight when you are hardest hit —
It’s when things seem worst that you
Mustn’t quit.

I write all of this to inspire you and lift you up; particularly if you are facing a seemingly uphill battle with some dark days of your own that seem impossible to resolve. Don’t let it get you down. Maintaining your positive spirit is paramount to success. I truly believe with all of my heart that God allowed me to go through this, the largest business dilemma of my life, in order, (among other things), to better prepare me to lead and manage larger businesses including Horizon. Most problems that I face today pale into insignificance compared to these dark days. I know I can weather most any storm. When we face the storms of life, often so-called friends may desert us, but that does not mean that you ever have to be alone. We can be assured and know that our God will be right there with us, encouraging us and strengthening us. There is never a reason to face a serious problem alone; provided we trust in the Lord to help us fight our way through the battle. Don’t allow your spirit to be broken and trust in the Lord always and don’t you quit!

Proverbs 18:14
The spirit of a man will sustain
him in sickness,
But who can bear a
broken spirit.