Sustainability is not Starvation

I am a great fan of the History Channel show Alone.  A competition pits 10 survivalists against each other as they are dropped off in an uninhabitable region of the planet with just one bag of tools and left there until they give up. The last person standing wins a bag of money.

It is a game of skill, wits and knowing how to play the odds between starving and sustainable eating. Some just begin to die slowly of starvation because they do not have anything to eat. But some have procured food from the environment. They have dried fish, cured meat and berries in stock, but they continue to starve because they do not know what the future holds for them, so they eat less, hoping to stay longer.

The show highlights a wide range of skills and human endurance in the wilderness, but it also mirrors how we live back in civilisation. Some consume what they have as soon as they get it. Then those who ‘starve’ even though they have resources that they can use but fail to do so due to fear of the unknown. And then those few who can plan their resources accordingly making plans for the unplannable and surviving even in the harshest environments.

Sustainability in business is not a game show with a bag of money for the winner. It is an essential skill that any business owner needs to learn, understand, and apply daily to build up those all-important reserves and then utilise them correctly to maximise sustainability.

Sustainability comes down to just three simple steps:

1. Acquire the required resources through business channels
2. Plan out the utilisation of the resources in an agreed budget
3. Live according to the plan and do not deviate

Sustainability is a daily art of balance between where you are and where you plan to be based on your current resources and known or assumed risks. Making it work, requires a well-thought-out strategy and a team to build and maintain those three simple steps above.

What are you doing in your business or family to ensure sustainability and a future without having to starve?