(Adapted from last month’s Owner’s Circle call)
Recently, I ran into a situation with our house that got my attention.
We got a call… (right after we crossed the Florida state line, headed to a week of rest and relaxation)
“Hey, your house is 39 degrees.”
The furnace wouldn’t start. We’d had minor issues before—reset it, and it would run for another month or two. Not this time.
Called a few guys. They came out and said,
“You’re not getting enough gas from your well.”
Problem.
And of course… a cold front was coming. 15 BELOW zero.
Now here’s where it gets interesting.
We already had a backup option—city gas.
But a couple years ago, they told us we should run a line around the house and install a three-way valve to switch over if needed.
We didn’t do it.
Why?
Because everything was working… at the time.
So now I’m scrambling.
Calling people.
Digging trenches.
Fixing lines.
Waiting on the gas company.
Dealing with delays.
At one point, a punctured gas line. (That was fun. Not.)
And even when everything was technically ready…
We still couldn’t switch it on because of process, scheduling, and “someone has to be there.”
So we sat.
With a house getting colder.
And here’s one lesson I’m pulling from all that…
In business, most problems don’t show up when things are going well.
They show up when you need things to work—and they don’t.
The systems you didn’t build…
The follow-up you didn’t fix…
The backup plan you didn’t put in place…
They all stay quiet—until they don’t.
Small fixes matter (especially the ones you’ve been putting off)
Backup plans aren’t optional
Customer service stands out most in stressful moments (a whole ‘nother article to be written about this!)
And sometimes… you don’t realize what’s broken until you actually need it
We eventually got gas heat back in the house.
But not without stress, time, and a few lessons (some of which the bills are still coming in for).
So here’s the question:
What in your business is “working for now”… but would break under pressure?
Might be worth fixing before you have to.
– Owen Shrock
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