Do it Right Away
There are times in business when something needs to be done as soon as possible, rather than wait. Buffett found that out when he decided to try to sell the derivitive division of General Re when he bought it through Berkshire (BRK-A) instead simply closing it.
Concerning not closing the division, Buffett wrote, "The hard fact is that I have cost you a lot of money by not moving immediately to close down Gen Re's trading operation. Both Charlie (Charles Munger, vice chairman, Berkshire Hathaway) and I 
knew at the time of the Gen Re purchase that it was a problem and told its management that we wanted to exit the business. It was my responsibility to make sure that happened. Rather than address the situation head on, however, I wasted several years while we attempted to sell the operation."
When something smells wrong and the feeling is that an action needs to be taken, many times it's far better to cut your losses and take action immediately. The costs of Buffett not doing it with General Re, not only cost investors and shareholders money, but it ended up bringing Buffett before the US Securities and Exchanges Commission, among other authorities to answer questions about the debacle.
We must resist the temptation to squeeze profits out of everything, as even Buffett found out. There are times to cut our losses and run from something - this was one of those times.
The bottom line is to know the time and then take action immediately. The eventual cost that must be paid is much higher many times than anyone could originally have imagined. We need to learn to do it right away!
Other Buffett Resources:
Investment Whiz Kid: Buffett Amasses a Fortune
Management Styles - The Buffett Way: Learn from the maestro himself
Brand names Commodity companies
THE REAL GENIUS OF WARREN BUFFETT
Remember to Sign up for my feed, bizzbite and digg this!
Sponsored link: The outsourcing every manager requires - Tampa Locksmith
Comment Preview