The permanence of fatal mistakes

Rabbits are fragile. Businesses don’t have to be.

I came downstairs yesterday morning to make coffee. In view of my rabbits in the garden, who are normally out and about in their enclosure. But that morning, they had been deleted from existence.

I didn’t close the door on my rabbit’s outdoor hutch. And all signs pointed towards a fox. They were gone. And only yesterday they were hopping around the garden in the sunshine. Now the garden, swamped with rain - was empty. Aside from some bundles of fur from whatever went down.

Why am I writing this? I suppose to process it. I didn’t imagine I would be as sad as I am. I keep thinking about all the “what ifs?”. Like what if I had double checked I had shut the door properly. Or what if the hutch had some better design that would signal if it was definitely secure or not.

So in typical Charles fashion, I look for the lesson and how I can apply it to life and business. What does this teach me? I suppose the simplest take away is that extremely minor mistakes can have catastrophic consequences.

How many businesses have collapsed because someone left a door unlocked?

What is the most obvious thing that will kill your business? In the rabbit’s case - it was always a fox.

And what is the most obvious thing that prevents your business from dying? In the case of a fox killing the rabbits: it’s a secure door.

Businesses die when they run out of money. That’s as straight forward as it gets. So try not to run out of money. Build up a war chest. Keep an eye on your costs. Diversify your income streams. Divest away from single platform risk.

Unfortunately rabbits are fragile. But lucky for us businesses are anti-fragile. Times of turbulence helps you see the weaknesses so they can be sured up.

RIP Kevin and Elsa