Had a talk with a kid at a gas station that made me rethink my whole approach

I was fueling up at a Pilot in Amarillo last week and this kid working there asked why I looked so stressed. I told him about how my small delivery business was bleeding money on fuel costs because I kept taking every job that came my way. He just said 'why don't you pick the jobs that pay the best instead of all of them?' and walked off. That hit me hard because I've been running myself ragged for two years trying to please everyone. Now I'm looking at my route sheet for next week and cutting out the low paying stops. Has anyone else had a random stranger say something simple that totally changed how you run your business?

2 comments

2 Comments

ray18914d ago

Wait, are you saying that kid actually told you something you didn't already know in your gut? That kind of advice is pretty basic stuff most business owners figure out in their first year. I've been running a small trucking operation for about eight years now and honestly, the real trick isn't just picking high-paying jobs - it's also looking at how much time each stop takes and what your actual overhead is per mile. A job that pays well on paper might eat up two hours of your day if you're stuck waiting to unload.

danielmason14d ago

Nodding along with this while realizing I've definitely taken plenty of those deceptively high paying jobs and regretted every minute waiting at the dock. Your mileage may vary, but my gut's been wrong plenty of times before.