The Lock-In Protocol: Why Most Strategic Planning is Just Guessing (And How to Actually Count the Cash)
By Jacob Zwack – The Executive Jokester
Introduction: The Silence After the Storm
There is a specific sound that every bartender knows and loves. It is the sound of the deadbolt sliding into place at 2:30 AM.
The “Open” sign is off. The music has been cut. The last patron has been ushered out (or gently shoved into a cab). The chaotic noise of the “Front of House”—the drink orders, the laughter, the breaking glass—is suddenly replaced by a heavy, exhausted silence.
This is The Back Room. This is where we go to count the money.
In the previous articles, we talked about “Top Shelf” leadership, “Rail” efficiency, and “Happy Hour” culture. Those are all about operations. They are about surviving the shift.
But The Back Room is about Strategic Planning. It is about asking the question that every exhausted professional eventually asks themselves while staring at a spreadsheet at midnight: “Is this actually worth it?”
Welcome to the VIP section of The Executive Jokester. Here, we stop performing. We pour the “Staff Drink” (usually the good stuff we hide from the customers), and we talk about the hard truths of business: Profit, Burn Rate, and the Exit Strategy.
Most corporate Strategic Planning is a hallucination. It is a room full of people guessing what the world will look like in five years.
In The Back Room, we don’t guess. We count.
Part I: The “Blind Count” Strategy
Why You Are Lying to Yourself About Your Business
In bar management, we use a technique called the “Blind Count” to prevent theft and laziness.
If you tell a bartender, “We should have 5 bottles of vodka, please check,” they will likely glance at the shelf, see a few bottles, and write down “5.” It is human nature to confirm the expected data.
Instead, we give them a blank sheet. We say, “Count the vodka.”
They have to actually look, touch every bottle, and write down “4.2.”
Then we compare that to the sales report. If the sales report says we sold 0 bottles, but we are missing 0.8, we have a problem. That is “Spillage” (or theft).
The Executive Application:
Most executives do not do a Blind Count. They look at their Strategic Planning documents from last year and say, “Yeah, we’re basically on track.”
They lie to themselves about their “Inventory.”
- The Talent Inventory: You think you have “A-Players.” Do a Blind Count. If you had to re-hire your entire team today, who would you actually hire back? The answer is usually terrifying.
- The Asset Inventory: You think your website is an asset. Is it generating leads, or is it a digital brochure that costs $50/month to host?
- The Time Inventory: You think you are “working hard.” If you blindly tracked every minute of your day, how much is spent on revenue-generating activities vs. “performative busy work”?
True Strategic Planning begins with a brutal, unassisted audit of reality. You cannot map a route to the future if you don’t know where you are standing right now.
Part II: The “Spillage” Report
Where Your Profit is Actually Going
In a bar, “Spillage” is the silent killer. It’s the bartender over-pouring. It’s the beer foaming too much because the lines are warm. It’s the free shots given to friends.
A bar can be packed every night and still go bankrupt if Spillage exceeds 20%.
In your life and business, Spillage is the inefficiency that eats your margin.
1. The “Subscription Spillage”
Audit your P&L. How many SaaS tools are you paying for that no one uses? How many “Gym Memberships” (literal or metaphorical) are draining your account?
In my consulting work at buildmybizweb.com, I often find that businesses are paying for three different tools that do the same thing. They have a CRM, an Email Marketing tool, and a Landing Page builder—all separate.
The Fix: Consolidation. Stop the leak.
2. The “Meeting Spillage”
We discussed this in “Happy Hour,” but here is the financial cost.
If you have 8 executives in a 1-hour meeting, and their average hourly rate is $200, that meeting costs $1,600.
Did that meeting generate $1,600 of value?
If not, you just poured a bottle of Dom Pérignon down the drain.
Strategic Planning isn’t just about making more money; it’s about tightening the tap.
Part III: The “Owner’s Trap”
Are You the Owner or the Best Employee?
Every bartender eventually has the dream: “I should open my own place.”
They think, “I know how to make drinks. I know the customers. If I owned the bar, I’d keep all the profit.”
So they scrape together the cash, they sign a lease, and they open a bar.
Six months later, they are miserable. They are plunging toilets. They are fighting with vendors. They are doing payroll at 4 AM.
They realize too late that owning a bar requires a completely different skill set than bartending.
This is the “E-Myth” dilemma (Michael Gerber), but with a hangover.
The Executive Lesson:
In your Strategic Planning, you must decide: Are you building a Job or an Asset?
- A Job: You are the best employee. If you stop working, the money stops. (Most Realtors, Consultants, and freelancers are here).
- An Asset: The business runs without you. You own the system, not the labor.
If you are currently trapped in the “Job,” your only strategic goal should be building the systems (The Rail) and the culture (Happy Hour) that allow you to step into The Back Room permanently.
Part IV: The “Exit Strategy” (Real Estate & Digital Equity)
Cashing Out Before Closing Time
Nobody wants to be a bartender at 60. (Okay, some legends do, but their knees hurt).
You need an Exit Strategy.
In The Back Room, we talk about where to park the cash so it grows while we sleep.
1. The Tangible Exit: Real Estate
This is why I am a Realtor with The Minnesota Real Estate Team. Real Estate is the ultimate “Back Room” asset. It is tangible. It is insurable. It is leverageable.
Whether it’s buying a duplex in Northeast Minneapolis to “house hack,” or purchasing a commercial building for your business to stop paying rent to a landlord, Real Estate is how you solidify the “vaporware” profits of your career into concrete wealth.
- Strategy: Take the “Spillage” you saved from Part II and pour it into a down payment.
2. The Digital Exit: Your Website
Your website should be a piece of digital real estate.
Most people treat their website like a flyer. It should be an employee.
If your website isn’t capturing leads, nurturing them, and booking appointments while you sleep, it is “lazy inventory.”
At buildmybizweb.com, we turn “brochure sites” into “lead generation machines.” That is how you build digital equity that can eventually be sold.
Part V: The “Last Call” Philosophy
Defining Your Legacy
Finally, Strategic Planning must address the “Why.”
In a bar, “Last Call” is inevitable. The lights will come on. The music will stop.
When your career hits “Last Call,” what will you have to show for it?
Will you have a collection of “Employee of the Month” plaques?
Or will you have a portfolio of assets, a network of “Regulars” who trust you, and a business that operates with the precision of a Swiss watch?
The Back Room isn’t just about greed. It’s about freedom.
It’s about making enough money and building enough efficiency that you can choose to work because you want to, not because you have to.
It’s about becoming the Owner who can sit at the end of the bar, sip a drink, and watch the machine hum, knowing that you built it, but you are no longer enslaved by it.
Part VI: The Executive Jokester Video of the Week
We need a visual representation of “The Plan” vs. “The Reality.”
Here is a classic clip on the absurdity of “Expert” advice in planning.
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style=”position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;”
src=”https://www.google.com/search?q=https://www.youtube.com/embed/BKorP55Aqvg”
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“I can do 7 perpendicular lines…” – The result of Strategic Planning without a Reality Check.
</p>
Conclusion: The Safe is Locked
The count is done. The safe is locked. The “Back Room” meeting is adjourned.
You have a choice now.
You can go back out the front door and start the grind all over again tomorrow, hoping that “hustling harder” will somehow change the math.
Or, you can start acting like the Owner.
- Do the Blind Count.
- Fix the Spillage.
- Buy the Asset.
If you need help counting the inventory (Consulting) or buying the building (Real Estate), you know where to find me. I’ll be here in the back, checking the numbers.
Get home safe.
Actionable “Back Room” Ledger (The Takeaway)
Your homework for the week is the “Blind Audit”:
- The Subscription Audit: Print your last 3 months of bank statements. Highlight every recurring charge. If you don’t use it weekly, cancel it.
- The Asset Check: Go to Zillow or Realtor.com. Look at the price of a duplex in your area. Calculate the mortgage. Do the math: Could you live in one half and rent the other? (If you want the real numbers, email me: jacob@mnrealestateteam.com).
- The Digital Audit: Open your website in an Incognito window. Try to “hire yourself.” Is it easy? Is it broken? If it sucks, fix it.
This concludes the 4-Part Pillar Series for The Executive Jokester Reform. We have covered Strategy, Operations, Culture, and Wealth. Now, the real work begins.
Internal Link Strategy
- For the “Owner” looking for property: Search Investment Properties with The MN Real Estate Team
- For the “Operator” needing systems: Automate Your Business with BuildMyBizWeb