“Linguini”

Charlie Duane, a long-time ST contributor, graphic designer, signmaker and good friend, recently wrote a book titled Racing Light. It documents his solo, Appalachian Trail through-hike, from Cap Gaspe, QC, Canada, to the tip of Key West.

Charlie, a graduate of Butera School of Art (Boston), divided the hike into four parts, so he could run his business and, more importantly, aid his wife, Tricia, in raising their two boys, James and Karl. Thus, the 4,057-mile hike required four years to complete, although his trail time was 180 days.

Charlie wrote, “180 days, 9,886,500 footsteps, 12 pair of shoes, 470 photographs, a glimpse of enlightenment and a taste of immortality.”

As I read the book, I realized that, in addition to telling a great story and providing us, also, a glimpse of enlightenment, Charlie had incorporated great advice for business people in this, shall we say, confusing time.

His hiking philosophy was to travel lightly and stay on task. He did this by focusing on the daily work while visualizing the trail’s end.

Similarly, the key to business success is to focus on needed, everyday accomplishments, but to keep the end product in mind.

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Charlie traveled alone, but occasionally spent a day alongside other hikers. Interestingly, and without hurrying, he completed many trail sections ahead of those who had started sooner. Charlie says he generally walked slower than other trekkers; they passed him, he said, like over-the-road trucks would a puttering economy sedan. Over time, however, he passed many of them.

Think of this when you go against larger competitors.

Charlie and I recently got together at the Sheraton hotel in Atlantic City. We arrived from separate locations, to attend the United States Sign Council’s Sign World USA.

On Friday morning, we sat at a large, sunny window at the hotel’s restaurant and talked of the book, business and world politics. Charlie’s daypack sat next to his chair, and I noticed he reflexively transferred two bananas and an apple, reaped from the restaurant buffet, from his plate to the pack. In doing this, he instinctively exhibited how hiking practices relate to business.

You see, in hoarding the fruit, Charlie had intuitively planned for later times, a valuable trait for both travelers and businesspeople.

Charlie’s trail name is “Linguini,” a takeoff on his taste for pasta. Charlie, also, has hiked and climbed in Italy. In the book, he tells of ultralight hiking, the practice of carrying only what he needed to do the job. As a child, he learned to conserve money, to make it stretch as far as possible. The practice carried over to his long-distance hiking. He advises other hikers to conserve energy and stretch their food calories as far as possible.

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Again, relative advice for business managers functioning in difficult times.

Many business counselors say to not cut staff in bad times or, at least, to try not to. The reason: They’re sources of revenue. A machine alone is an expense; manned, it’s a profit center.

It’s the business owner’s job to find work for the profit center. Acquiring sales is the process. Business owners or managers are instruments of businesses; they carry the load and, in bad times, must concentrate on gaining – and retaining – business.

Two years ago, a friend’s business had taken a downturn. He said his salesperson had lost his enthusiasm. “Go with him,” I said, “to help sell, because no one sells better than you, the business owner.”

Owners can make decisions salespeople can’t.

My friend’s wife disagreed. From her Cadillac’s window, she said it was demeaning if he, the president, went on sales calls. He followed her advice and, six months later, locked the shop doors forever.

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In bad times, a business owner must certainly focus on the core business, but also spend time where the rubber meets the road: Sales. It brings in the money.

Meanwhile, like Charlie, travel light. Scrutinize everything that costs, every outlay, including paper towels, but don’t obsess, lest you lose focus on the core – to bring in and process business.

Charlie fabricated his own backpack because store models were too heavy; he cut the tongues from his shoes, to lighten them and add ventilation. He slashed his tooth¬brush handle in half and, later, drilled holes in the remaining half, to lighten it further.

Charlie wrote, “For me, the ultralight-hiking style began as a safety and survival strategy.” The unfore¬seen benefit, he wrote, turned into extra hours on the trail, every day. He adds that ultralight traveling appears simple, but requires dedication.

Charlie rose every morning to walk. His social life was with those who moved with him, not in rest areas. In business, this relates to running the business, not the shop.

Charlie writes, “… the best information you can receive is not from the equipment outfitters and catalogs, or even from reading books on the trail.” He says to talk with hikers who have completed the trail. Carry this over to your business – find others who have survived earlier recessions, and ask their counsel.

Think hard before laying off employees. See each as a revenue source, and compare the absence of their gains against your total revenue.

Here’s a simple calculation: Divide the number of employees against your annual revenue. For example, $450,000 in sales divided by five employees says each employee generated $90,000. Will a reduction to four employees raise the per-employee revenue, to, say, $112,500? Or, will it slow production and even¬tually reduce your total sales?

It depends. If your previous hiring practices were correct, losing an employee will cut your service and, eventually, profits. The reason? Losing one employee from a correctly staffed team will cause other team members to take up the slack. This will shrink the team output, reduce product quality and injure morale. In time, the $90,000 per employee drops.

A sharp manager works first to increase the per-employee revenue, which increases the shop’s efficiency and gains ground. This happens through marketing, sales and effective pricing.

My favorite business consultant, Peter Drucker, said to give knowledge workers ownership of their output; he also said most employers are blind to the employee skills at hand.

While passing through Vero Beach, FL, Charlie was nearly arrested. He’d sat on a wall to apply ointment to his feet and a local businessperson mistook Charlie for a vagrant and his tube of foot ointment for a knife. The police responded, and, Charlie writes, a policewoman “jumped out of the cruiser and yelled ‘Freeze!’”

Charlie had carried a hometown newspaper article telling of his hike. That and the previous night’s motel receipt cleared him. He was prepared for unexpected interruptions. Keep that in mind.

Charlie Duane has written more than 70 articles, many for ST; his murals decorate public halls in his Massachussets hometown. Charlie’s photographs of Italy’s Milanese canals hang in Milan’s Storza Castle’s Bibliteca d’Arte. He’s also published a book on Da Vinci’s canal system (Milan). His photos of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial are in the National Archives; they were also purchased as gifts for commission senators, the White House and the Royal House of the Netherlands. His supergraphics have decorated several America’s Cups boats and his graphics for the Brown University women’s racing shells were displayed at the Smithsonian Institute (NYC).