Even as one of the best tax accountants in Birmingham (and one of the humblest), I sometimes I get stuck. (Though now, in the middle of the intensity of our biggest tax season yet, it’s not quite the problem!)

I’m a creature of habit, and I find myself repeating patterns over weeks and months. Eventually, these patterns can become codified company firm policy around here, if I’m not careful.

But innovation requires that even staid Birmingham tax and accounting companies be willing to think outside the ol’ proverbial box.

Which, of course, is one of the reasons why I started blogging for my Birmingham business clients and friends in this way some time ago. Which has really done wonders for us … being able to communicate in a conversational, coherent way with our people has been really fun.

(Yes, I know blogging isn’t exactly “new” … but I like to think we do it a little differently than the norm here at Team Randall Hancock.)

Anyway, I was reminded of all of this by the following business parable that I came across. Maybe it will help you too?

Birmingham Tax Accountant Shares A Story on Momentum
“Life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.” -John Maxwell

A small brewery launched a fancy microbrew (no, this didn’t happen in the Birmingham area, but read on). It proved to be very popular — so popular, in fact, that they were having trouble getting it distributed to all the stores and bars in the area. The management team met to discuss the problem.

“Here’s the schedule,” said the manager in charge of distribution. “You can see that we have our biggest shipments on Monday and Tuesday, and then smaller ones Wednesday and Thursday, and all the local deliveries on Friday.”

“We’ll have to change that,” the CEO said, “but we’d better find out why it’s scheduled that way.”

The team couldn’t find any logical explanation for the schedule, which had endured over the years, until they reached a former distribution manager, long-retired, whose grandfather had co-founded the company. He thought for a while, then said:

“Yes, I remember. When we started out, all our deliveries were made by horse-drawn wagons. On Mondays and Tuesdays, when the teams were rested, they could pull a big load, but on Wednesdays they started to get tired, and by Friday they could only make it a few blocks. So we set the schedule that way.”

Let’s all of us Birmingham small businesses commit to remembering WHY we do what we do … and not let our methods get in the way of our mission.

I would ask that you forward this article to a Birmingham business associate or client you know who could benefit from our assistance–or simply send them our way. While these particular articles usually relate to business strategy, as you know, we specialize in tax preparation and planning for Birmingham families and business owners. And we always make room for referrals from trusted sources like you.

Warmly (and until next week),

Randall Hancock
(205) 715-4488