President Trump recently showed what was
necessary, paperwork wise, to build 18 miles of new road in Maryland and the
associated costs.
Seems they have been dicking around with
this for nearly twenty years. So what have the Maryland taxpayers received?
Nada, except for full employment of the report writers.
Close to my home is another bloated project
going nowhere, a rail link to Denver International Airport.
My personal experience, albeit on a small
scale, is extensive. From 2003 to 2006 my employer, Steve Lance’s Cowboy Corral
Kia, held 60 car sales in twenty six different Colorado towns and opened six
used car lots. Making this happen was my job. I answered to only the owner and
the general manager. Twenty six different towns, twenty six different sets of
ordinances and procedures, city codes, county codes, state requirements, ad
nasium. There was no blueprint for
nobody had ever attempted what we did. One of our financial managers remarked
it was like opening a new business, from scratch, at each new town. In
Burlington, CO I was fingerprinted and we put up a $10,000 cash bond. Boulder,
CO tossed every conceivable obstacle in our way. Seem to remember ten different
permits were required. Five different permits in Glenwood Springs. Other
places, like Trinidad and Canon City made it easy.
This is all to establish I might know
what I’m talking about. Think we didn’t make our money back on the sales to the
residents of these towns? Think again. You can call this a hidden tax, no?
Any regulation is double taxation. First
the general tax used to fund the organs of government. Second, the cost passed
through to the consumer by business.
So, WSF, you prefer anarchy. No, some
regulation is needed for our general welfare.
To digress a bit, a look at why we were
able to pull this off. The owner, general manager and I trusted each other.
They knew I would never steal, skim, seek kickbacks, etc. I knew they wouldn’t
shaft me financially. When we were moving fast, often I would use my personal
credit cards and checking account. It wasn’t unusual for me to have eight grand
of my money floating around.
Peter Butterfield, then President of Kia,
put a lot of money on the line to promote the Kia brand. This was available to
all dealers. Few had Steve Lance’s guts. Steve, a professional bullrider from
Medicine Lodge, KS, had guts, vision, and drive. His assignments to me were in
the following form.
This is what I want done. This is when I
want it done. This is where I want it done. Do it right, and don’t cut corners.
After that all he wanted from me, “It is done” or “It isn’t done because….”
Not many people have the luxury of working in
that atmosphere. Who else would have let me spend $2,000,000 of their money? A
long conversation for us was ten minutes.
I relished the challenge (and the
rewards). What we accomplished had never been done to our knowledge.
Another factor was Steve and the General
Manager, Greg Miller, rode my heat. I
pissed off nearly everyone in the company at one time or another. The one thing
I couldn’t control was time. Fuck with my time and I would steamroller you.
Want to get physical? OK, out back and I’ll fill your dance card.
In addition to setting all this up, I managed the sales crew. That was why my title on my business card was, "Senior Cat Herder".
What soothed the hurt feelings and was
balm to wounds was we made a shit load of money.
Getting back on track, perhaps the best
business model is critical path analysis, critical path management. An outstanding example of this method was the Polaris Missile Program.
This kind of planning was part of the
United States being the arsenal of democracy in WWII, IMO.
Over regulation kills CPA/CPM because you
lose control of time. Government functionaries, under little or no
accountability, consume your project time, and your personal time dealing with
them. I won’t go further. Several regular readers of this blog (and I
appreciate each and everyone of you) can write books on the subject.
So bravo for a businessman President who
has lived the problem his whole business life. There is hope.