Fixing Problems

My boss has two children and two dogs. A ten year old girl, a six year old boy, and huge black lab mix, and a tiny chihuahua. The black lab-ish dog, Seamus, is getting old, and has grown a large (larger than his head) tumor on his stomach. Lately, clients who come in and out of the home-offices have been commenting on the tumor. One woman was so bothered she didn't want to have her meeting in the house where she could see the dog, and had to have her meeting outside. A few kids have asked if Seamus was having puppies. Most people just look at the dog, pet it, and comment on how badly they feel for it.

All the negative comments led my boss to take Seamus to the vet, something she has never done before. At the vet she was told that surgery to remove the tumor would cost $600, and it would probably just grow back because the disease is so widespread. Now, my boss and her husband are business owners. They own several business, and when one is struggling they will try something drastic (like buying a mobile billboard truck, or producing a musical) to make some extra money. Generally the new, extravagant, venture ends up costing more than it makes, and they end up worse off financially than they were before.

My boss was hesitant to agree to a $600 surgery that would not cure the dog, but her kids were insistent. She made a deal with them: they would start a business to cover the cost of the surgery. Last Monday morning the three of them went out raspberry picking. They came back with about two dozen cartons, set up a tent and table in their front yard, put up a whole bunch of signs, and the kids sat outside selling raspberries. The first day they gave away three cartons and ate two. The second day they sold 6, which put the kids in the profit margin by $7.00 (not including the gas money to drive one hour in a Yukon to get to the berry picking site). The third day they used the remaining raspberries to make a dessert of some sort. The dog went for the $600 surgery on Friday.

My boss ends up in the hole, again. 

I'd like to present a different scenario:

Let's say, when Seamus' tumor first begins to appear, he is taken to the vet. It's possible that it could have been cut out while it was still small, and stopped from spreading to the point it is at now. The dog wouldn't be in pain, it wouldn't have had a negative impact on business, and my boss could have spent three days actually trying to make money, rather than running a fruit stand. 

What if she took it a step further, and dealt with every problem when it first arose, rather than ignoring it until it was absolutely necessary? Real-life example: There is often not enough money in the bank account, and my boss is aware of this. A check bounces, and the bank charges a $32 fee. Now, instead of having to come up with X amount of dollars to cover the bill, she has to come up with X + 32 dollars. Say this happens every week for a month - if she would come up with the money for the bills before the checks bounced she could save nearly $150 a month. 

The solution to problems seems simple to me - solve problems when they first come up, while they are smaller and manageable - don't wait until it is a gigantic mess. The solution might not be easy to carry out, or any fun at all, but problems will never solve themselves, so taking steps to fix things while they are still manageable will always be an infinitely better choice than waiting for a disaster to appear, and then trying to fix that.