JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 • FOGHORN 25 BUSINESSMATTERS a cacophony of shattered pottery. We were exhausted. Why did this happen? • The vanity of growth at all costs had created this company, and we underes- timated the time and energy required to visit, maintain, and nurture it all. • One local competitor was a retired SVP of a massive airline. We were also up against Chicago travel entrepre- neurs and NYC tycoons who owned a thriving 50 year old brand. Indeed everywhere we competed with our young, home-grown talent against very capable local business leaders. • We had excellent systems and the ability to transfer our farm team of young managers, but those local con- nections were tenuous at best and took years to become meaningful. We had to regroup and focus. It was better to have three ports thriving than ten doing so-so. In my next operation we honed in on three cities, and now, a generation later, the business grosses annually $30M in two markets, $20M in the other, all with diverse portfolios and EBITDA margins north of 20% of sales. I know many local operators admire those larger empires due to their sheer size, capital base, headquarters team, and perceived resources. It can be frus- trating in smaller operations, where cash is constrained and employees wear too many hats. Yet in larger opera- tions, it is difficult to avoid the trap of corporate hubris. In the mid-2000s we thought we had mastered the Internet and had far surpassed local companies. But our competitive edge slipped when we lost focus and the local operators were rewarded by Google for geo- graphic relevancy, plus locals could cycle way faster than our uber-savvy but overworked HQ. Don’t give into the corporate vanity and be persuaded to establish flags in far-flung places. This also goes for getting into new businesses that will need different customers, new processes, new staff or other things. Understand what you are really good at and focus on that. About the Author Bob Shaw is a veteran industry executive, having led over 100 vessels responsible for over 10 million passengers a year. He can be reached at shawrw@ gmail.com. Rejoice in your local roots. But remember you have to use that advantage of cycling faster than others. It takes plain old hard work, and you can’t be stuck in time. This effort will be rewarded far more than the vanity of an unsustainably large sunflower. n