I’m composing this letter in my head during a recent relaxation trip to South Dakota. While in the midst of the great setting and the many casts mixed with the every attempt to stay out of business, I did find my mind fixated on CFA Convention 2015. You’ll read a lot about this event in the pages of this magazine but I want you to have my two cents on the event.

I’m very busy during the summer. It is the busy construction time, my kids are in a hundred activities and the weather in Iowa is nearly perfect. Why would I put my company at risk while being away for three or four days while I travel to an event featuring education and technology for a business that I’ve been in for decades? I was once where you stand but I did make the decision, one that has defined much of the success for my company. I’ll offer my thoughts to you in four main points.

1) Education initially attracted me to Convention. Each year I’ve returned, the CFA has continued to elevate the education and make it poignant to my business. This is largely because contractors like me weigh in on what the pressure points and hot topics are.

2)  Friendships keep me coming back year after year. I do learn a lot from the education and the technology at Convention but I learn even more from the peers I’ve met, many of whom have become close friends. In this business, it is easy to put your nose down and never look up at those that have walked before you or that struggle on the same issues. Convention is a place where you make lasting friends for the remainder of your career. They will make you better.

3)  Time Away is something I never realized as being important to my company. I am not gone long and rarely to far. At the same time, I am challenged and focused on ways to improve our business and that matters. What I also uncovered is that my employees and other leaders in our company grew during the time I needed to be away. I issued the challenge for them to be more responsible, do more and get better…they did and now we all look forward to this annual event.

4)  Family Value is a price you can’t put on the experience. There are few times in your year when you have the real chance of focusing on your family while you expand your business, your mind or your potential. I’ve heard my kids plan their summer around Convention while not even to Christmas yet.

It’s not about where will you go next year? There is never a “good” time for you to leave your business but there is never a “better” time than making it happen right now. I’ll wager with you that your gain will far outweigh any realized pain.