We’ve Made It This Far

When I first bought the magazine, I had grand ideas for new products and changes I wanted to make right away. About five months into ownership, though, I realized they were unrealistic in the timeframe I had envisioned. I’ve since realized that changes in business, at least in ours, look more like this: Create goal, develop system to meet goal, continually improve system as you incrementally move toward goal, meet what you thought was the goal only to have that show you something new that needs to be improved.

While the theory of continuous improvement sounds good, it can be frustrating. As someone who takes pleasure in crossing things off a to-do list, I want to get something DONE and move on to the next thing. But business — and life — doesn’t work that way. Most impactful and lasting change comes from small shifts in our systems and habits, eventually leading to the bigger improvement we want to see.

Many business owners, including pool industry professionals, are feeling burnt out right now. Typically, I see this level of exhaustion at the end of the season, not the beginning, so it’s concerning. We’ve faced tough challenges over the last two years, and there aren’t many things we can check off our list yet. Supply chain? No check. COVID? No check. Shortages? No check. Price increases? No check.

But if you look at what you accomplished in the last two years, you’ll be astonished. I know I was. A couple months ago, I was overwhelmed and panicked at what I had on my plate, so my business coach made me write a list of everything the company had done over the last several months. It was a long and varied list, and it gave me perspective.