It was a cool fall night, a Thursday night, and the junior high teams were playing football at old Pine Tree “Pirate” Stadium. I was in high school, but knew many of the kids who were playing, and all home games were social events.Before the game started, one of the coaches I knew spotted me and came over and asked if I would do him a favor and help run the chains for the game. They didn’t pay officials for this mundane chore, and that night I guess it was my turn to be drafted.

I didn’t mind because it was a fun job anyway. The only drawback was that it put me out of commission for walking around looking for pretty girls to talk to. Then again, I was going to be awfully close to the cheerleaders, which was a bit of pleasant compensation. During the game I did my job, but kept one eye on the cheerleaders and the other on any pretty girl that walked near the fence to get from the concession stand back to the side of the stadium where all the students were walking around the end zone, so there was always a lot of foot traffic going on.

At one point in the game, the cheerleaders of both teams decided to do a few friendly cheers together, and all of them moved to one side of the field, my side. Actually, I believe it was the migration itself that caught my attention and held it a bit too long. Suddenly I heard footsteps, many footsteps and fast, more like a stampede and turned to look back...too late. About the time I turned toward the action, the action was on top of me, as an end around play to my side was running out of bounds with about half of both teams at full gallop passing directly through where this numbscull was standing. Wham! Bam! Slam! I wasn’t a player that night, but I was blocked, clipped, tackled and interfered with all at the same time! And when it was over, I was laying flat on my back, seeing stars, not girls.

Someone reached out a hand to help me up, but I was not sure all my parts were still connected. Two hands grabbed me and set me back on my feet, where I found that I had been seriously bruised and insulted, but not badly hurt. But, one thing was for sure, they had gotten my attention and they kept it the rest of the night, or at least the rest of that game anyway. When you’re down on the football field, right on the sidelines, whether you’re a player or not you’d better keep your eye on the ball because that’s where all the action is, and you can be part of it at anytime.

At certain times of my life, keeping my eye on the ball has probably been more of a problem for me than I would like to admit. This was certainly true for the first several years, if not a decade or more, of being in the sign business.

Even though I stumbled into this line of work, I did enjoy what I was doing. In fact, I probably enjoyed it too much. That is, I enjoyed what I was doing with my hands. All the things I was learning to do was work, but was fun, too. But just doing the work did not mean I had my eye on the ball. Mostly, I didn’t.

No matter what kind of business it is, no one should deceive themselves into thinking they are in that line of work because they enjoy it. That’s not a reason to be in any business, a little pleasant compensation maybe, but not the real game. The real game is doing everything you have to do with one eye on the ball all the time, and the ball is called profit, net taxable income, cash after all expenses. By whatever name you call it, sorry to have to admit it, that’s really what running a business is all about. It’s about the bottom line.

And understanding the bottom line and moving it in the right direction is not unlike my job that Thursday night. I was there to mark the progress of whichever team had the ball. In football, knowing where you are in relation to the next goal, the next first down, is very important and has a bearing on what type of play needs to be called, and how that play will be executed. In business, it is managing information and constantly re-evaluating where you are, and what the next goal is, that will necessarily influence what changes are to be made and what steps should be taken to reach that goal.

Is that greedy? Not at all. In business, all good things come from profit. The ability to create good jobs comes from profit, to be able to buy your own building, pay any and all benefits to your staff and yourself, fund college educations, retirements, all expansion and growth comes only from profits, from being focused on improving the bottom line.

At this point in life, I am a bit banged up, bruised and insulted, but my eye is on the ball. It’s a tough game, being in business, but it’s the only game in town unless you’d rather just get a paycheck. I don’t know what that would be like, and hopefully never will.

No matter the challenges, and the hard work and long hours, I’d rather be in the game. And since I haven’t been all that good at it, I still have goals to meet and have to play a little longer. I’m not complaining; I still enjoy it. And when kept in perspective, that bit of pleasant compensation doesn’t hurt a thing.

Have a great month—Rick