Preparing To Succeed

Posted on:

August 12, 2019

Picture the scene from “The Lord of The Rings” trilogy where Frodo puts on the ring and he is moving about at what appears to be a slower pace while everything around him has sped up. Isn’t that how life can seem at times? You feel you have it all under control, but everything around you says differently. The unhappy client, the employee who won’t follow instructions, the truck that broke down on the highway, the missing furnace from the warehouse, or the delivery that didn’t show up for the next day’s installation.

When you made the decision to start your business you knew that there would be challenging days. You also knew that there would be rewarding moments, and a deep satisfaction that would come from seeing a newly installed system purring like a kitten or a repair that provided relief to an elderly couple in 95-degree temperatures. So, what does it take to ensure that at the end of the day you remember your passion for why you started your business in the first place?

Benjamin Franklin wrote, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Here at ACCA we want to help you remember your passion, and help you prepare for success. That passion still exists somewhere inside and if you are truly committed you will be able to find it again and the best part is, you don’t have to do this alone. There are numerous resources available to you through ACCA, through your distributors and through the manufacturers that, if you take the time to investigate will yield benefits that are one hundred times their cost. Going back to the quote above, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” this is where you can start to make a difference today. Don’t be a reactionary, chasing a solution to one problem and the next until you are worn out and tired and ready to give up.

Develop a plan, a game plan…a business plan…a strategic plan, whatever it takes to help you make your business that business that you dreamed about several years ago. And then follow that plan, hold yourself accountable to seeing it through or better yet, hire someone to work with you that will hold you accountable. The business that thrives is the one where the owners and the leaders set aside time to work “on” the business as opposed to “in” the business, the thinkers, the planners and most importantly, the doers.

I have a piece of paper in a portfolio that I wrote on over 30 years ago when I was at sea while in the Marine Corps. On that piece of paper I wrote, “If you give up on your dreams, you have died,” and it hung in my locker until I was transferred off the ship two years later. Don’t be a casualty of your own failure to make your dreams a reality, get out there and be the company that you knew you could be before it ever existed. I implore you to seek out those who can help, and who can handle some of the heavy lifting.

As you take on this renewed journey, ACCA can provide numerous resources to assist you. Membership and MIX groups are the two to start with and then build from there. There is no better time to be an HVACR professional and with some hard work, focus and planning, you too can make your passion a reality once again.

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Eric Knaak

Vice President of Field Operations at Goettl Air Conditioning & Plumbing

Eric Knaak is Vice President of Field Operations at Goettl Air Conditioning & Plumbing. He previously served on ACCA's Board of Directors and was the Board Chair from 2019 to 2020.