Turn Around a Business

The revival of businesses around the world …

… requires commitment and smart strategies

When companies suffer an economic weakness, management has to evaluate the situation and move ahead with a turn around strategy.

UNCERTAINTY

Entrepreneurship is usually accompanied by ups and downs. Turbulences let the colours fade or even blur ones branding. Business separations, changes in the market and even regulations can derail a successful business. An entrepreneur is the captain on his ship. He holds the responsibility for his business, his employees, his contractors and his clients, but foremost for the effects of his actions on the community. When price dumping, changes in regulations or even new trends appear they will change the performance of a company. That is when a business owner must have his numbers at hand. He needs statistics that show him what is happening and where the water is flowing into his business, trying to sink his business.

NUMBERS

Unfortunately many entrepreneurs do not know their numbers. This is partly because they do not understand the importance or because they are unable to get the information in a transparent way in real time. Accounting is an important part of business. Sales reports show you the inflow but also other types of reports let you feel how your ship is cutting through the waves.

THE STORM

All hands on deck!

If you are unable to see ahead the sand bank or the nasty wave then you will not be able to avoid massive damage to your hull. You lose speed and confidence in your journey. Your staffs become negative and either infects all your staff or the a-players in your team leave due to the unpleasantness. Those who remain are either very loyal or are frightened of change that they shut their eyes hoping the storm will pass. Reality is that a ship needs all hands on deck working the ropes and navigating the threatening waves.

When everybody is on their station and holding together you will not only survive but also become stronger. Nevertheless, you need to understand the waters you are crossing and so research how you can get into safer waters. Hence, your business needs a new direction. You will have to reinvent your business ideas if necessary. That is a step that most passionate entrepreneurs fear most as they are so in love with their original idea that they need to find the new love to be able to detach themselves from the no longer successful part of their company.

TEAM BY DESIGN

Refresh your team by leaving your comfort zone! Unfortunately by changing direction you will have to get rid of staff and organizational elements, no longer needed in the new business setup. The second to hardest task for an entrepreneur is to fire people who have been with you for a long time. Every conversation with a person you are going to fire is a challenge as you want to not be unfair but at the same time encourage them that this is not the end of their life. Later on in life you will see that they eventually found a new job and are happy there. Keeping them on board would have not helped them either as they would not have fit into the new scenario.

TRANSFORMATIONAL

At the same time you need to change your own habits and learn to mind feed. You will have to be very transformational. You need to expect some ripples as people will refuse to accept the new direction. They will try to derail your efforts and drain you of your precious energy. Then it is time to fire the negative people in your team.

Become a transformational entrepreneur: By regularly mind feeding you regain the creativity you once lost by being trapped in the rat race of trying to rescue your unprofitable business. By liberating your soul you gain peace of mind. That gives you the clear and focused mind to develop a future for your business. Read several business books from other entrepreneurs who have gone through such storms. Just look at people like Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Peter Thiel, Steve Jobs and many others.

They will show you opportunities and strategies. It is up to the entrepreneur to develop his master plan and implement it at high speed. If the change happens too slow more water will enter your ship and sink it faster than you can pump the water back out. Then you need to gain new skills and knowledge. Learn about branding, marketing, sales, social media, advertising and other topics. Entrepreneurs who were stuck in the rat race lose tough with business reality. They are no longer up to date with trends. They need to regain their competitive advantage.

THE EXAMPLE

The more you read about other entrepreneurs who have had to turn around their business you become aware that is way out side of their preferred comfort zone. They had to deal with banks that do not understand their business model or business partners who are not willing to adapt to the new vision. Landlords might try to get the company out of their premises although they have a book full of orders to complete. There is a saying that some things happen for a good reason as otherwise the business might never get there where it has to be. In a modern world a company does no longer have to be attached to a location. Businesses move their accounting overseas or allow staff to work at home for a number of days a week. The way of communication changes drastically.

PRESSURE VALUE

The greater the pressure from competition the greater an entrepreneur must innovate. He will speed up his business. That requires a completely different set of employees and business partners. You need people to get things done. Who jump in when necessary and are not full of excuses. When you need to move equipment fast and you cannot get a moving company to get it done, you find out who is loyal and willing to get their hands dirty. Those who remain at home in the event of such a storm do not need to return to the company.

Loyalty is a commodity you cannot but only earn it from loyal people. At the same time you need to get a new set of clients when your business changes that drastically as the products and services will not match the existing clients. Your client avatar tells you who your new clients are and that allows you to see which existing clients you can keep and who you eventually see leaving. If you raise prices then you will lose more customers at first. Eventually new customers come, they respect the value provided and become long lasting clients who repeatedly buy from the new business.

TURN AROUND A BUSINESS

That is the way to turn around a business and gain new brand insisters. From a sales perspective is will take time to get used to the new sales situation but you need to work on your sales objection list in order to readapt to the new offerings of that business. This will eventually allow you to turn around clients who are confused and therefore are not willing to buy. Turning a business around by introducing new products and services will not happen extremely fast but it will require massive action by the business owner. As customers begin to take up your new offers other leads will gain confidence in your product. The most important is that your customers understand your vision and want to be part of this journey. Make your clients so eager to be part of your customer base. The personal touch and dedication to quality.

Business owners and managers who do not make the effort to rescue the business from bankruptcy damage society and their suppliers as well as their clients. Therefore there are ways to get the game playing to the advantage of the suffering company and push up sales again so that the company becomes profitable. In some cases coaching can be a helpful way to solve this deadlock.

Even where companies are looking healthy they are vulnerable to be hit by changing purchase habits of their clients and market niche. This is where a coaching and consulting service that focuses on helping busineses gain a greater level of success will be able to contributre to turning around a company. Experienced business coaches that have a variety of business eductations and business experience can help you gain your success by guiding you past the sandbanks and problematic situations.