If It Doesn't Look Right.....

There have been a few times that we're completing a survey and when I determine the boundaries of properties based on deeds, I miss every single fence and other evidence of the boundaries on the property. Normally, it's some stupid mistake made by yours truly. However, when it doesn't appear that I've made a math mistake, I still try to go back and try to see why the visible evidence seems to be different than my solution. In 22 years of doing this, there's almost always a good reason why the long-standing visible evidence is correct.

Here's a story from Nashua, New Hampshire where a surveyor had a similar situation and has now upset an entire neighborhood. Without giving a legal opinion, I'm going to guess that the fences in the neighborhood are in their correct location and the surveyor has simply missed something. If it doesn't look right, it probably isn't - so check your work before upsetting the neighbors!

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090617/BUSINESS/306179958/-1/XML15

What Keeps Us in Business

I was having drinks with a friend of mine at a convention earlier this year when he asked if he could ask me a "somewhat" personal question. With fear in my voice, I timidly said "yes". Due to the downturn in the economy and the state of government in Indiana, there are some survey companies who have gone out of business, many who have cut back on employees and hours and others who seem to be hanging on by a thread. Anyway, the question my friend asked me was this: "You and John Doe (obviously not his real name) both had companies about the same size. Both of you appeared to do roughly the same type of work. Why is it that John went out of business and you didn't?"

I actually had to stop and think about that for a minute before I answered him. There were several reasons (luck maybe not being the least) but I think there were three main differences between my firm and his.

First, I learned from a business seminar what financial ratios were important and what they needed to be to survive. At the end of every month, I compute the following:

Current ratio (assets/liabilities) and always make sure it's more than 2.5:1
Working capital (assets - liabilites) and try to keep four months operating costs. This is the hardest for us to maintain, it seems.
Debt to Worth (liabilites/owner equity) and keep it under 2:1
Return on Equity (net income/total equity) and shoot for 14% although that's been very difficult lately.
Return on Assets (net income/total assets) and try to hit 8% - also very difficult lately.
Accounts Receivable Days (accounts receivable/sales*365) and hope to be under 45 days.

Any time these are out of balance, it's time for action to bring them back in order. In addition to being a good surveyor, being a good business person is very important.

Second, our firm is not a "one-trick pony". In other words, we're diversified across nearly every area of surveying. I learned early on that subdivision design was a two-headed monster with regards to cash flow and since cash is king, we've never done any of it. Anything else related to surveying is fair game for us.

Finally, and most importantly, we try very hard not to develop clients but rather develop relationships. It never hurts to have friends when you really need a job or when you really need an overdue invoice to be paid. After all, when all is said and done in this world, relationships are really all we have. In addition to spending money and time on things, we try to spend money and time on doing things with people. Try it sometime - I think you'll be much happier.

So give these ideas a try and let me know how they work out for you. I can tell you that they've worked out very well (so far) for our company.

Summertime Treat

I had posted before that we normally make homemade ice cream (it's really custard since it has eggs in it) every summer holiday and even posted the recipe that I use. My kids and wife always try to talk me into putting "stuff" in the ice cream - I'd be happy with plain vanilla.

This Memorial Day weekend was no different. And again I succumbed to their wishes but I'm very glad I did. If you make the ice cream, try this. Melt some peanut butter. Crush some chocolate covered pretzels in a bag. Let the ice cream maker run for about 10-15 minutes so it's starting to set up but not completely frozen yet. This will ensure that anything you put in it won't sink directly to the bottom. After the 10-15 minutes, pour the melted peanut butter around in the mix and pour the crushed pretzels in as well. Let the ice cream maker do the rest until it's done. It tastes just like Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby. My kids affectionately named it Chubby Daddy.

Let me know how it works out for you.

The End......Or a Beginning

Today was the high school graduation for my oldest son, Kyle. It's weird to believe that I can actually be old enough to have a son almost 18 years old. I can't believe that this youngster

has now turned into this fine young man:

Congratulations on a job well done and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Another Brush with Celebrities

My wife and I were fortunate enough to be able to get away for a few days earlier this month. I guess to be correct, I got away while she was working a trade show in Las Vegas. We did take a day after the show was over to walk around, gamble, see Blue Man Group, etc.

Anyway, on our way home I was wearing an Indianapolis Colts t-shirt and waiting for our plane to arrive when a lady leans over to me, points quickly at my shirt and then at a man just sitting down to wait for his flight, too. "Isn't he on the Colts?" she asked. I looked up to see All-Pro center Jeff Saturday. When we got on the plane, I was seated in the row behind him and his wife. As others were getting on the plane, many people appeared to recognize him but I don't remember anyone speaking to him (probably because he was in the window seat and had a hat kind of pulled down a bit). When we landed, he was directly in front of me while getting off the plane so I said, "Hey, Jeff, it's great to have you signed back with the Colts" to which he answered, "Thanks."

The flight had been pretty rocky during the last hour so the pilot had us strapped in our seats and everybody was headed to the bathroom as soon as we got off the plane, me included. As I stepped up to the urinal, Jeff (I can call him by just his first name since we're friends now :) was at the one right next to me. Now........if you remember in an early post, I also stood at a urinal right next to Peyton Manning once while at the Murat Theater for a show.

Got me to wondering...how many people do you think can say that they've actually shared a bathroom with an All-Pro center and QB from the same team? I HAVE!

Yes, I'm Still Alive

Many people have asked me what happened to my blogging since I haven't posted anything since February. Well, basically as the president of the Indiana Society of Professional Land Surveyors, I've been focusing a lot of energy and my communication through that organization. Being president has certainly taken more of my time and energy than I ever anticipated.

Anyway....as for some updates: My oldest son, Kyle, is about to graduate from high school and will be attending Ball State University in the fall majoring in actuarial sciences. The college selection process was interesting to me and the financial aid end of it was very intriguing. For anyone with a child about to go to college, contact me and I'll share with you information I learned during the process to help get scholarship money.

We're full bore into both soccer season for my younger son, Brad, and dance for my daughter, Libby. Brad's team isn't doing so well but he's found a love of playing another position - goalkeeper. My wife isn't nearly so fond of seeing him in goal.

Libby has had a solo this dance season and has done well with it. She certainly has a different perspective on solos now as she knows all eyes on her and if she makes a mistake, it will be very noticeable. She's done a great job with it while fighting through a hamstring injury that just won't seem to go away. She's got a great physical therapist, though, who is also a dancer so she is able to help Libby to learn how to do moves a little differently so she's using the muscles she's supposed to be using.

So there's my last three months wrapped up in a few short paragraphs. Keep checking back often and I really promise this time that I'll do a better job blogging.

Convention Time

Right up front, I'm going to tell you that I'm stealing the title of this blog from my friend, Sherry, who has her on blog and wrote about attending a floral design convention in Louisville.

Similarly, I've been on the land surveyors convention circuit lately.

It started here in Indianapolis with the convention of the Indiana Society of Professional Land Surveyors where I was sworn in as the new president. The week started with a Board of Directors dinner on Tuesday night and ended on Friday afternoon. To say the least, I was worn out by the time our convention was over.

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the convention of the Professional Land Surveyors of Ohio. It started on Thursday and finished Saturday but I came home Friday evening. Being the frugal person that I am, I thought I'd get up and out the door Thursday morning at 4:30 a.m. to arrive in Columbus at 7:30. And it worked well. I was, indeed, there by 7:30 and enjoyed my two days there. I felt a little bit like a fish out of water as I didn't know anyone there but enjoyed some great seminars.

This past week, I was invited to the Kentucky Association of Professional Surveyors in Lexington. Same setup - Thursday through Saturday but again I came home Friday night. I really enjoyed my time there, was able to meet a few of the presidents from adjoining states and several surveyors from Indiana were there as well. The seminars were good - the food was great! The trip there didn't quite work out as well as I had planned. Leaving at 4:30 a.m. again, the roads were snow-covered and slower than normal. At about 5:35 a semi jacknifed in front of me, leaving his cab in the median and his trailer across both lanes of traffic. I was at a dead stop for about an hour and 20 minutes waiting for the tow truck to move him. Needless to say, I missed the opening sessions on Thursday.

Certainly it's great to be back home with the convention season over so I can concentrate more on home and work.

And to get some rest!