You are a struggling entrepreneur and sometimes it feels like you are pushing a 3 ton boulder up a steep hill. Costs keep mounting and you are considering giving up. Well before you do, check out these 10 setbacks that Walt Disney had, some were financial nightmares that put him millions of dollars in red:

1) Walt formed his first animation company in Kansas City in 1921. He made a deal with a distribution company in New York, in which he would ship them his cartoons and get paid six months down road. Flushed with success, he began to experiment with new storytelling techniques, his costs went up and then distributor went bankrupt. He was forced to dissolve his company and at one point could not pay his rent and was surviving by eating dog food.

2) Walt created a mildly successful cartoon character in 1926 called Oswald Rabbit. When he tried to negotiate with his distributor, Universal Studios, for better rates for each cartoon, he was informed that Universal had obtained ownership of Oswald character and they had hired Disney's artists out from under him.

3) When Walt tried to get MGM studios to distribute Mickey Mouse in 1927 he was told that idea would never work-- a giant mouse on screen would terrify women.

4) The Three Little Pigs was rejected by distributors in 1933 because it only had four characters, it was felt at that time that cartoons should have as many figures on screen as possible. It later became very successful and played at one theater so long that poster outside featured pigs with long white beards.

5) Snow White and Seven Dwarfs was sneak previewed to College Students in 1937 who left halfway during film causing Disney great despair. It turned out students had to leave early because of dorm curfew.

Now think of all things that are done within your warehouse, supposedly to save time. How many of those things actually worked over long haul? Can you count them on one hand? If so, then what do you do?

It all starts and ends with your warehouse supervisor. When you hire a supervisor what type of person do you look for? Usually it is a “Time Keeper”! Here is a parable: Imagine if someone told you they could look at Sky, day or night, and tell you what time it is. Wouldn’t that be impressive? But what would be even more impressive is a person that could build a clock that would do same thing, a “Clock Maker”!

When interviewing a person for a supervisor’s position we ask them about all of things they have done. We ask their references about things they have done. Then if we like what their past has to tell us, we tell them about all of things our organization has done and how great our company is. Then once they are hired, we seldom provide them with any training and later we wonder why we continue to have same problems. Basically we hire people to maintain status quo. A person who can maintain time! “Is this what you want”? A “Time Keeper”!

Why don’t we tell potential employee about problems we have within our warehouse? Why don’t we tell them what our expectations are? By doing these things does that mean company is not as great? Of course not, we are just being honest with same person we expect to be honest with us. By being completely honest you give them opportunity to give you their vision about how your warehouse should run. A “Clock Maker”! A person with a vision and determination to achieve that vision is much more valuable to your organization, even at warehouse level. Remember, your warehouse is first department to touch product when it arrives from vendor and last department to touch it before customer sees it. Doesn’t this mean we should devote more time and energy to ensuring our customers are completely satisfied?

Think about this, “What is most expensive asset you have within your organization”? Now imagine, “Your Money,” being controlled by a person with no vision and no desire to improve your investment. Would you let your 401k be controlled by someone without telling him or her what your expectations are? Without telling them how much of an increase you are expecting? Would you trust it to someone who could not tell you how he or she plans on improving your investment and in what time frame? Then why trust your organizations largest investment to person with best past and a limited future.