Schmidt: Avoid the Sting

It has been an unseasonably warm spring in Ohio, and the bees have been busy. I have a beautiful, active hive on my property that pollinates our 5 acres and all my gardens. People should strive to be more like these fascinating creatures. Bees are structured, disciplined, and everyone in the hive knows their role and does their job with top-tier performance. All bees ask in return is you don’t block their path home after working, and don’t bother them in the evening or when it is super-hot outside. They don’t like that. They just want to bring in their pollen and hang out with their queen. The amazing family that takes care of my bees taught me these basic rules of beekeeping. Although they know their bee process and systems well and they’re extremely passionate about them, even the best business owners get worn down at times and look for shortcuts to get the day done. As shop owners, we’ve all been there, but when the exhaustion sets in, you can’t let it cloud your judgement and knock you off the processes.

Caught Cutting Corners

The apiary that cares for my bees has hives in several locations, and it takes a while to give them all a health check. On this particular steamy day, the keepers checked all their hives and made it to the last one safely. They were tired, hot, and just wanted to get home—something we can all relate to. As they reached the final hive near sundown, it was still hovering around 80 degrees. Although it was not an ideal time to go into a hive, they wanted to get the job done, despite knowing they may be met with resistance. Sure enough, as they lifted the lid, a storm of angry bees came flying at them with intention of protecting the hive. While this would normally not present a problem, on this evening—in their hurry and exhaustion—the keepers neglected to suit up correctly, leaving loose pants, loose cuffs around the gloves, and their hoods not fully down. One beekeeper’s hands and arms were repeatedly stung, and the other had 13 bees go into her pants and obliterate her backside. This could have been far more tragic, and we are so grateful it was not.

Take Time to Follow Processes

We all get tired and start to miss—or intentionally skip—things that we know are important and valuable in our business. But remember that you created processes for a reason—to protect the integrity of your brand and provide direction. Small, skipped actions will break down your business standards, leading directly to chaos. For my beekeepers, it took a few days of healing and allowing the bees to simmer down. For us, in auto care, a skipped process could lead to a bad review, a missed opportunity, overall shop decline, or an accident. If you are taking the time to put processes and defined standards in your shop, put that same energy toward upholding them. A missed step, ignored process, or diminished standards can come back and sting you. Sometimes you get a chance to heal, but sometimes you lose the hive.