The Migrant Crisis
Offers a Lesson for Entrepreneurs
Chicago and New York are
struggling to handle thousands of new arrivals cruelly dumped in their towns by
red state governors. But the proposed solutions show the downside of short-term
thinking. As an entrepreneur you can't afford to act this way.
BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL
MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS@HOWARDTULLMAN1
Right
now, the Democratic mayors of every major northern U.S. city are facing a
novel, overwhelming, and complicated migrant challenge that has been
aggressively and immorally engineered by the governors of Florida and Texas,
among others. Busloads of misled, unprepared, and unsuspecting families
of migrants are being shipped north to New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia,
and other cities.
Overnight,
they're expected to implement viable solutions to process, house, and care for
an influx of vulnerable, often ill, and generally non-English-speaking
civilians of all ages. In some respects, it's a repeat of the kind of
entrepreneurial challenges posed by the pandemic. And there are absolutely no
easy answers.
But
even the newest and least experienced entrepreneur knows that not every step he
takes will be productive and move the business forward. Nor will it be the best
and optimal choice possible because no one has yet invented an infallible
crystal ball for new business builders. The same concept applies to newbies in
government positions of great responsibility -- for instance, being the mayor
of Chicago or New York.
The
most critical thing to do in these cases -- given the immense challenges and
the inevitable uncertainties -- is to not make rapid, stupid, and expensive
decisions. If you try to run before you walk, painful and costly stumbles are
guaranteed, especially if you lack operating and administrative experience.
Small,
slow steps that preserve and often maximize flexibility and optionality usually
make the most sense. Whether you're talking about new strategic
initiatives, geographic expansion and rollouts or trying
to do too many tough
things at the same time, it's smartest to go slow as you scale.
Grand and abrupt gestures, quick patchwork solutions, or leaping before
carefully looking are sure to fail. You don't test the depth of the pond by
jumping in with both feet.
And,
given the scarce financial resources and competing demands which are always
part of the puzzle, the one inviolable rule is to avoid costly choices and
commitments that are certain to be temporary and short-lived and which are not
foundational in any sense. Only dummies go deep on disposables or rush so far
down a precarious path that there's no turning back.
You
can get away with a lot that's not perfect if you can at least show that the
actions you took and the funds you spent were directionally correct. And that
the enterprise can eventually reuse, repurpose, adapt, or build on top of
whatever you've done to date so that it's not a total waste of time and money.
The trick is to make your investments and actions incremental, flexible, and
additive.
But
Chicago's newly-elected, amateur mayor, Brandon Johnson, who's never built or
run any business - much less a massive operation like the City of Chicago --
apparently never learned this lesson. It's already becoming clear that, even
though he was an elementary school teacher for a few months, he isn't really
interested in learning and that his position isn't one that's well-suited to
on-the-job training.
Chicago's
latest plan to buy and erect massive tent camps to deal with the surge in
migrants being shipped to the city by Red State governors is ill-conceived,
ridiculously expensive, impossible to implement and doomed to failure. New
York's latest solution - handing these people vouchers to go to stay in other
parts of the state is equally wasteful, short-sighted, and unworkable. It's no
wonder that the voters in these places, who were never asked or voted to become
"sanctuary" cities, aren't pleased to have these enormous concerns
and costs heaped upon them as taxpayers.
The
best that can be said for these efforts (and the equally ineffective solutions
being attempted elsewhere) is that they provide some handy warnings for startups
as to exactly what not to do.
The
current Chicago plan is to buy tents and house migrant families through the
dependably fierce winter in random outdoor locations across the city. Did I
mention that the vendor quickly and quietly selected to be paid $29 million to
begin this travesty is the same firm that has helped MAGA moron governors move
migrants from Texas and Florida to Chicago and New York? You can't make this
stuff up.
But
the saddest part of the story and the actual lessons for all new business
builders are quite simple. There were sounder, smarter, simpler, and shorter
ways to do a much better job of attempting to solve this particular problem.
Each of the alternatives -- which were apparently never carefully considered in
the rookie mayor's rush to just do something -- offers lessons for every kind
of entrepreneur.
First,
don't buy anything you can rent or borrow if you only have a short-term need.
The
city and state (as well as FEMA and the Illinois National Guard) have rented
and deployed large-scale tents for emergency purposes during the pandemic as
well as for other natural disasters, and for numerous sporting events, races,
and other recurring festivals for many years. While housing thousands of
migrants essentially outside is foolish, buying expensive tents for temporary
housing and then discarding them is an even dumber idea. Smart people
rent for a reason and try before they
buy.
Second,
ride on someone else's existing rails whenever possible.
There
are hundreds of built facilities throughout the city that could be pressed into
short-term service (much as McCormick Place was used as a COVID hospital)
including armories, 50 empty CPS schools, libraries and hospitals, or vacant
warehouses at far lower costs and more quickly and efficiently than trying to
build tent cities across Chicago. Several vacant hotels in the suburbs, which
were previously serving as shelters, are already being
converted into housing which may become permanent
facilities for the city's unhoused residents.
Third,
make the money you do spend matter for your long-term needs and requirements.
There
are massive numbers of abandoned or underutilized apartment and industrial
buildings in Chicago which could be repaired, rehabbed, and returned to the
city's long-term housing and commercial real estate stock using the same
funding now being committed to the tent cities. In addition to creating
long-term housing, undertaking these projects would provide employment and
training opportunities for unemployed residents in precisely the underserved
and resource-poor areas which need the most help. Nothing could be dumber or
more wasteful than paying these new arrivals (who may ultimately become
productive employees and citizens) to go away.
Finally,
focus and concentrate on your efforts and concerns; don't spread them out and
dissipate them.
While
putting tent cities in each of Chicago's 50 wards might be a wise political
approach, what the city actually needs is a prudent solution with the best
possible permanent benefits. Selecting several primary, large-scale locations
where security, transportation, food, and even educational resources could be
concentrated and effectively delivered makes far more sense. Put all the wood
behind one arrowhead.
Creating
a couple of these permanent care and comfort facilities -- as opposed to
piecemeal and interim internment camps -- would change the entire perception
and purpose of the program. We could be helping with our housing, supporting
our newest residents, and rebuilding parts of our city as well.
