A number of years ago when visiting family in Alaska, we attempted to climb to the Harding ice fields or at least that was the plan. It is a four mile hike with 1000 foot rise of elevation with each mile. After several hours of hiking, you would see false summits. As you reached the “summit” you were disappointed to find the full height of the mountain still in front of you. You kept climbing to the next “summit” only again to realize that it was nothing more than a stopping point on the continual hike. At some point, I gave in. I couldn’t continue on any further. (This was before handy GPS units in our phones.) The thing that bothered me the most is I had no idea how close I was to reaching the top. It could have been the next “summit” that I could see; however, I already had my hopes dashed a dozen times thinking I had reached the top so I was jaded to the thought that the next one really was the end. As I turned down that mountain, I was amazed how far I had come. Just a couple of hours earlier, I was at that valley floor several thousand feet below. It was a breathtaking view.
Looking back now, I think I missed the purpose of the trek. I had been so focused on getting to the top to see the amazing view of the ice fields that I missed the amazing views of the valley below. I was so focused on the climb in front of me that I missed looking back to see how far I had come. The unending climb ahead of me broke my will. I should have continued to look back to see how far I had come to encourage me to continue. I think we get into this same mode in our businesses. Everyday, there is a new challenge. Everyday, there is another obstacle to climb over. It is an unending task that can break a person’s will to continue. We need to stop on occasion and look back at all we have accomplished. Take in the stunning view of where we used to be.
When I started with Point of Rental in 1993, I was the fourth employee. We had one product and less than a hundred customers. Now, we have a team of more than 50 professionals. As you will see in our article on Rental Elite, we now offer a fully customized ERP product and currently have three products that are used by thousands of customers in 20 countries. This year, we opened a branch office in Australia to better serve our customers in that part of the world. We are used by some of the largest independent rental stores, one of the largest construction companies in the US, the largest camera dealer in North America, as well as the largest professional basketball leagues in the world. Wow, it has been quite the climb! Our new look, including a new logo and new product names is an outward reflection of our progress.
As we turn towards the mountain once again, it is exciting to see where we have been and even more exciting to see where we are going by each step of the climb getting better, doing better, and being better. There is no top of this mountain so just enjoy the climb…and the beautiful views.
Sincerely your partner,
Wayne Harris
