Always Do the Obvious Thing

There’s a powerful story about a man stranded on his roof during a flood.

A boat passes by and the captain shouts, “Jump in!”

The man shakes his head. “God will save me.”

So the boat leaves, and the water rises.

A few hours later, a helicopter spots the man and lowers a rope. The man waves it off, too.

“Go on without me, God will save me.”

Hours later, the water rises, and the man drowns. When he gets to heaven, he asks God:

“Why didn’t you save me?”

“Save you?” God says. “I sent a boat and a helicopter, you idiot.”

It’s funny until you realize how often the same thing happens in business.

The Number 1 Reason We See Businesses Drown?

Not bad products. Not lazy teams. Not competition.

When we see a business struggling, it’s almost always for one (often preventable) reason: cash.

Sometimes, the businesses we see MOST at risk aren’t even performing poorly.

They’re successful businesses struggling to manage growth, which usually eats cash before it feeds it.

Step back, and this is dynamic what we like to call a timeless truth.

Jeff Bezos once explained that Amazon’s overarching approach to businesses didn’t revolve around guessing trends or predicting the future. Instead, it focused on certainties, or what will never change:

“It’s impossible to imagine a future,” Bezos said, “where a customer comes up and says, ‘Jeff, I just wish the prices were a little higher,’ or, ‘I wish you’d deliver a little more slowly.’”

It sounds revolutionary… But it’s actually quite obvious.

Whether you’re grinding at your 9-to-5 or owning your a local plumbing biz, the same principle applies.

It’s often the smartest strategy to simply focus on these obvious, timeless truths. So here’s a big one:

Cash is and always will be a major factor in your business’s success, if not the most important one. Understanding how to access, manage, collect, and deploy it is obviously a critical ownership skill.

The Data Says So

The average struggling small business isn’t running out of ideas. It’s running out of time.

Half of all small businesses could cover just 27 days of expenses if revenue stopped. Many can’t even make it that far. One bad invoice, one late payment, one “slow season”… and poof.

It’s why the vast majority of small firms report at least 1 significant financial challenge every year. In 2024, the top 3 were rising costs, paying operating expenses, and uneven cash flow.

And liquidity isn’t just a financial metric, by the way. It’s a psychological one. When cash is tight, decision-making collapses. Stress narrows perception, optimism turns to triage, and innovation gives way to fear.

TOGETHER WITH SOFI

Ask successful business owners about what almost drowned their business, and you’ll hear some wild stories.

But at the most basic level, the answer often isn’t competition. Or a bad idea. Or even a bad business.

Time and again, it’s cash.

Cash is oxygen, but access to capital shouldn’t be the reason your business stalls.

That’s because tools exist like the SoFi Small Business Loan marketplace.

Need $50K loans for equipment, payroll, or working capital? $500K to open a second location? In minutes, see options from multiple providers in the SoFi marketplace. You could get up to $2M, with funds available as soon as the same day you’re approved*.

So many SMB owners have “that” story: the contract they couldn’t take, payroll they couldn’t make, the location they couldn’t sign, equipment they couldn’t buy, all because the cash wasn’t there. Let’s make sure that isn’t you.

Click HERE to search for options now. Terms apply.

10 Ways Owners Do the Obvious Things

Telling you to “do the obvious things” doesn’t sound cool, but it is right. Smart owners and business buyers usually follow a few obvious, unspoken commandments.

• They don’t buy broken businesses to prove how clever they are. Turnarounds are for professionals with scars, not beginners with dreams. Buy something that works, even if it’s boring.

• They diversify intelligently. Not every deal needs to be financed alone. Smart debt, seller notes, and sweat equity are tools, not crutches. The right structure aligns incentives and cushions risk.

• They plan the exit before they enter. They know where the industry is heading, who might buy them later, and what makes a business more sellable over time.

• They stress-test reality. They know how much cash they have, how long it lasts, and what happens if sales drop 20%. Most operators don’t. Those who do rarely drown.

• They define what they actually want. Buy too small and you’ve just bought a job. They reverse-engineer the life they want, then pick the business that funds it.

• They respect time. Deals take longer than you expect and die faster than you think. They move quickly, gracefully, and do what they can to speed up the process.

• They don’t fall in love with deals. “Never fall in love with something that can’t love you back.” Emotions blur math. They keep their attachment to the process, not the prize.

• They call in experts. You could build a house on a ledge with YouTube and optimism. Or you could hire an architect and survive the inevitable earthquake. Legal, accounting, lending — professionals exist for a reason.

• They don’t do it alone. The best predictor of survival isn’t genius, it’s proximity to people who have already survived.

• And when they take on partners, they write the rules down. Someone has to steer the ship. Equal splits and vague roles sound great until the water gets choppy.

These are not hacks or shortcuts. They are disciplines. The boring, obvious habits that compound into freedom.

We Hope This Scares You

You should be scared. Not of ownership, but of thinking you’ll coast through it.

Business is one giant pressure test. It finds every weak point in your systems, your discipline, your mindset. And it punishes comfort.

The people who make it? They build for the flood. They act before the panic. They install systems when things are calm. Many are capable of starting, owning, and building a business, but only with the right:

Knowledge + Tools + Pain Tolerance

Because the flood never stops coming. Costs rise. Markets shift. Competitors circle.

The helicopters are increasingly there. Capital, community, technology. The best builders will climb aboard and keep building.

They’ll do the obvious thing.

Before it becomes the only thing.

ONE LAST THING…

🎥 Join Codie Sanchez for a live YouTube Q&A on Oct. 20th. Bring questions about buying and scaling, and Codie will tackle as many as she can.

📊 Get the Main Street Minute, the only free newsletter that makes you a smarter business buyer every time you open it.

DOPAMINE HIT

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SoFi receives compensation in the event you obtain a loan, financial product, or service through SoFi’s marketplace. This webpage is owned and operated by SoFi Lending Corp., licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Financing Law, license number 6054612; NMLS number 1121636. (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). This page is NOT operated by SoFi Bank. Loans, financial products, and services may not be available in all states. All loan terms, including interest rate, and Annual Percentage Rate (APR), and monthly payments shown through SoFi’s marketplace are from providers not SoFi Lending Corp., and are estimates based upon the limited information you provided and are for informational purposes only. All rates, fees, and terms are presented without guarantee and are subject to change pursuant to each provider’s discretion. The actual loan terms you receive, including APR, will depend on the provider you select, their underwriting criteria, and your personal financial factors. The loan terms and rates presented are from the service provider. Please review each provider’s Terms and Conditions for additional details.

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