Do YOU or Your Company need a shot of
DOGE?
The idea that there is (finally) a concentrated effort by government
officials in our country to get our financial house in order is amazing to me.
Many will discount Trump and Musk just because it’s them who are taking action against
a problem that Republicans and Democrats have ignored for years, but a least
their doing something!
The fact is, the well-being
of my kids and grandkids has already been negatively affected because of wasteful
spending and debt. INTEREST on our national debt will soon be the 2nd
largest line item expenditure of our country we (the tax payer) will have to
pay, which means less money for other more important things. Already, the dream
of owning a home is unattainable for many young people because of inflation
along with high interest rates. If something is not done, the standard of
living of those readers of this article in their 20’s’ and 30’s will never
reach the level of those older readers, and sadly, many of them will have to
work until they die or live a sub-standard existence because of their unhealthy
financial choices along with incompetent politicians.
Poor financial habits
are not unique to the government. Governments like companies are made up of
people. And many of those people are “financial pygmies”. This is not my first
writing on the subject. You can go to my blog site and read for yourself. But
rather than look at DOGE, let’s get personal, shall we? We’ll call it DOOE and
DOYE
Company DOOE or
Department of Organizational Efficiency
As a management consultant, I’ve had the opportunity to guide
organizations in the area of “cost awareness” and through a focused process
they not only are making more money, in addition they’ve realized substantial
profit.
As a student of guys like Milton Friedman, Phil Crosby,
Edward Demming and others I’ve guided companies to identify the two major areas
of financial understanding.
1.
EC/Error Cost
2.
COI/Cost of Improvement.
Error Cost is “The cost of doing things wrong” e.g. rework,
scrap, billing errors, waste etc. Most experts in the field agree that 25% of
sales dollars in manufacturing firms have this level of Error Cost. For service
industries it could be as large as 50% of their operating budget. That’s a huge
amount of money and lost opportunity.
On the flip side is
the Cost of Improvement which is the cost of doing things Right… such as buying
new equipment, investment in technology, training of employees etc.
Individual DOYE
Department of YOU Efficiency
Our educations systems have done an extremely poor job of educating
our kids on financial management or understanding. Sadly, parents have not done
too well in this area in part because they never really knew the basic principles
of money discipline. That’s why I’m a big proponent of company education in
this area. Financially healthy employees will help make a healthy organization
they work for.
Dave Ramsey a famous financial advisor says, “Rich people ask,
“How Much Does it Cost?” Poor people ask, “How much is my monthly payment?”
The average credit card debt in the US is over $8K.. A
minimum payment of $213.00 per month will take you 23 years to be clear of that
burden..The average household debt is over $104K.
Most of the crippling debt is avoidable, but our society has
encouraged spending. One credit card company advertising slogan is “Take the waiting
out of wanting” in other words, “Don’t deprive your self of what you want! You
deserve it! So put it on your card!” Enjoy now, pay later….
What must you
do for a successful DOOE or my DOYE?
1.
Begin to educate yourself on financial matters
(Youtube is a remarkable resource)
2.
Do an EC/COI analysis in your company or
personal financial accounts
3.
Seek a financial advisor if necessary. (not a
life coach, this no time for feel good, it’s time for serious discipline)
4.
Develop a plan…
5.
GET STARTED. It will feel uncomfortable at first,
but most sacrifices do.
6.
Achieve financial independence at the earliest
opportunity. It will give you freedom you never imagined.
I was blessed to be raised by a guy who taught me good work ethics and financial discipline. I’ve been blessed to help many organizations become profitable so I know it can be done.
One of the issues in my “purpose statement” for
business is to help them “get it” and to help organizations become successful. It’s
all part of my quest to Honor God in what I do as I strive to
Finishing Well!
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