Feb 17, 2022

Denver, COLORADO – “Guess that guy has too many cows!”

I was commenting on the lack of fencing between the tiny rural highway we were on and the vast farmland that lay on either side. Signs said: ‘watch for livestock’.

Next moment we see a brownish blob on the side of the road, legs straight up. I’m guessing truckers 1, cows 0.

We had just spent two and half hours crawling a kilometer or 2 to cross the border from Alberta into Montana, USA. The main crossing, at a place called Coutts, has been under a blockade for 3 weeks (just ended late Tuesday) so we were taking the closest one. It’s a small crossing, open only 9-5, with one port on the US side. Normally, no commercial traffic.

But the day we crossed…..

Seems all the commercial traffic had the same idea. What it looked like was everyone was trying to leave Canada, and no one was trying to enter. With the recent moves by Canada’s PM – no wonder. My country is beginning to resemble Cuba in it’s (non) governance.

But I digress.

If you been reading this weekly letter, you’ll wonder what are we doing crossing a border so far north and what’s next?

(For those new to this thread, my wife and I have been traveling Mexico, Panama and Ecuador and are currently on a 2-month sojourn in the USA. You can find those back issues here.)

Well, after surviving pre departure and upon arrival PCR tests, uploading documents to government apps and proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are innocent, we made our way to our home in Canmore, AB, picked up our car, loaded it with ski gear and set off again – first stop, Colorado.

I won’t bore you with the details.

But it was amusing to have to slow down to avoid running over 30-40 wild turkeys, seeing hundreds of Canada geese crowded in small, half-frozen pond in northern Wyoming and being called “honey” by a waitress in a small, rural coffee shop.

A couple of interesting observations:

1. Our hairdresser is busier than ever and has seen no push back on her last raise in prices. When was the last time you raised yours?
    
2. If you notice your Google My Business page doesn’t have the correct information, don’t wait 6 months to hire someone to fix it. (If you don’t know how to do it yourself)
    
3. Government restrictions always hurt local businesses. But sometimes even the bigger guys. We discovered some Starbucks are still only open to drive-through because they can’t get employees to operate fully. Why not? After being laid off due to lockdowns, they’ve either taken other jobs or are still receiving government handouts so have no incentive to find work.
   1. What is your plan to ensure your business is immune to possible government restrictions on your operations? Your plan B? C?

Today I’m speaking at my friend and colleague Greg Petri’s “Stretch Live” event. “How to be in the top 3% of your industry”. Should be fun. I’ll report on this and other antics next week.

Until then,

Keep on trucking!

- Hugh
The “Profit Accelerator” Expert

P.S. Did you know that even tiny improvements of 1-3%, in just 12 fundamental areas of your business could give you 50% and more improvement to your bottom-line? Test out brand-new Profit Acceleration Simulator^TM  and discover the true impact of a conservative estimate of Profit Acceleration initiatives on your business and see for yourself. Head to: https://hughtafel.com/simulator/

★ BECOME A HIGHLY PAID BUSINESS COACH WITH #1 COACHING PLATFORM ★
I am looking for individuals to help handle the exploding global demand for business
coaching services. I’m willing to train [at my expense] the right individual with a
passion for wanting to help small business owners become successful.
NO travel - work from home. $225,000 first year income. If you or someone you
know is interested, click here and an 8 minute video will explain it all.