Connection Between Maximum and Optimum

I deliver beef and lamb all year, but this time of year is especially busy.

It is also the time of year when I am reminded one important reason I run my business this way.

While advertisers work around the clock to convince us all that we must prove our love with bigger, better and more expensive gifts, the lives of my customers remind me that the best gift is a strong connection.

The connections we build are not reinforced by expensive gifts; they are reinforced by shared experiences.

First-time customers mingle with people who have been eating my beef and lamb since my son rode in a car seat.

As my son grew, so did theirs.

Last weekend, I brought beef to Dan just in time.

Dan’s son had met a woman when he attended an out-of-state school. He planned to bring his bride to visit Montana for the first time and would arrive within days.

Dan and I share the mixed emotions of so many parents – pride for our kids while we miss them and want our too-short visits to go well.

At the same stop, Myra and I celebrated her graduation from medical school.

I remember the first time I brought beef for her.

We met at a college library because she was studying for a final exam. She needed to do well so she would be accepted into the medical program.

Myra isn’t sure what she will do with her extra time now that school is finished for her, but I bet she finds a way to fill her days.

Maybe she will cook more.

Some of my customers have suffered through tragedies.

One mother lost her teenage daughter to a fiery car crash 9 years ago.

I can’t imagine worse pain than losing a child, but I know a bit about missing someone who would still be here if he hadn’t met two tons of metal and a transmission, leading with his chest.

Words between us make the best of life as it is, but our eyes share what we know and wish we didn’t.

A couple of customers are in the midst of navigating a maze of medical diagnoses and solutions. As they search for a path to maintain their lives, I listen to the horrors of fibromyalgia, macular degeneration and other difficult diseases. Still, they ask about my struggles and celebrations.

I learn a lot from my customers, too.

When I delivered beef to Louisa a couple of years ago, she showed me how she built a chicken tractor.

She moves her portable poultry pen across her pasture, fertilizing as she goes. The improvement in her grass is distinctly visible.

I went home and built my own chicken tractor.

At another stop, I learned about a revolutionary local anesthetic for orthopedic surgery. Soon, patients can avoid general anesthetic when they get a knee or hip replaced.

My customer said he might celebrate with a few racks of my lamb on the grill.

I’m in the business of raising and selling beef and lamb, but my real payoff can’t be measured in dollars.

My connection to my customers’ lives matters.

Experts advise me to manage my business to maximize profit, just as advertisers during this season of giving imply that maximizing the price of the gifts we give demonstrates our love for people who matter to us.

I could charge more money and offer less service.

But basic economics teaches that the maximum is often not the optimum.

That concept applies to both business and gift-giving.

Reinforcing my connections with my customers reinforces the reason for these holidays.

This season, I hope you find that reinforcement, too.