Warning Signs
You’ve got trouble, my friend
It’s easy to blame a weak economy for business challenges, but most companies are held back by internal failures that cause damage in good times and bad. If more than three statements below apply to your firm, the economy isn’t the biggest issue to be addressed:
1. If I’m not here, not much happens.
2. Most new business leads come through me.
3. Business is off 20%, but we have no free time.
4. Clients say they’re happy, but we get no referrals.
5. We spend more time on meetings than sales calls.
6. Everything is in process, nothing gets done.
7. Competitors are killing us, for no clear reason.
8. Everyone here finds fault; nobody takes ownership.
9. Our bankers don’t understand our business.
10. Reading this list is giving me chest pains.
Most business owners spend too much time on initiatives that add no value and too little time in the areas that offer greatest opportunity. Fixing the problem requires no new investment of time; merely the reallocation of management expertise where it will yield the greatest returns.
We like to call it addition by subtraction. It’s a reassessment of strategies, priorities and initiatives—including products and services—that incorporates both corporate strength and customer values. What is the company doing today that no longer builds profitability or customer loyalty, or both? What great idea that didn’t work out is still loitering around in the catalog, distracting the sales team from the strongest products?
Recurring headaches are a symptom of a larger problem. Whether it’s sales leads or market share or access to capital, the warning signs are a reflection of a bigger problem that’s waiting to explode. And, as it says on the side passenger mirror, those problems are probably closer than they appear.
Of course, that’s just my opinion. What do you think?
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