Mac Tools distributor Steve O’Leary learned early on that the key to being a successful business owner is to always look ahead.
When he first started out, he did better than expected. Although that sounds ideal, he burned through the little cash reserve he had too fast which became a challenge in and of itself.
“It was a good lesson,” he notes. “Now, I’ve learned to always look as many steps ahead as I can... Especially as a business owner, you have to look three, six, nine months ahead and try to envision where you are going to be financially and where your business will be.”
That lesson early on, along with his planning-ahead management style, helped him overcome a six-month, out-of-nowhere downturn in 2016, which he still finds perplexing. Nevertheless, it proved to him the importance of planning ahead.
