Turnaround and Crisis Management
Your company’s in trouble and you’ve known it for some time.
Your CPA has been warning you that things are not good. Your
sales have slowed as have your collections. And the company is
way behind in paying its monthly obligations. The word profit
appears only in dictionaries—never on your financial statements.
Your CPA insists on bringing in a turnaround or crisis
consultant to appraise the situation so that you come to grips
with reality. He suggests a thorough written analysis that
includes looking at people, processes, materials, vendors,
customers and the competition. You say you need to think about
it. In other words, you’re stalling.
Sound familiar?
It should because thousands of American businesses are faced
with common problems and issues every day. The wise
manager/owner doesn’t let too much time elapse before action is
taken. The “I hope the problem will solve itself” manager will
soon be out of business—even thought the odds are very good that
the company could be saved.
Turnarounds have been with us for years. Consider the
Chrysler story of the late 80s and 90s. Lee Iacocca became even
better known as a result of his success in turning around the
very troubled auto maker.
Many of the bankrupt airlines are being turned around as you
read this article. Delta, United and Northwest are struggling to
survive. Others are on the edge of failing.
The reasons for these problems are varied but we can assure
you that all companies facing insolvency, failure,
unfair/increased competition are no different than your company
other than the size and perhaps their problems are a bit more
complicated than yours.
I’ve been in the turnaround, crisis and workout business for
20 years. You don’t have to face the awful pressure and stress
alone. I can tell you that speed is your friend if you move
early in tackling the problems. I can almost guarantee that
you have been ignoring all the signs of deteriorating cash
flows, sales activities, smaller and smaller accounts receivable
balances, increased account payable levels, lousy morale and
sleepless nights.
Then for your peace of mind call me or send me
an email. I have common-sense questions to ask so as to get a
sense of your situation. After we speak I can offer common
sense answers and perhaps I can help. It costs nothing for you
to call or email me so that I can become tuned into your
problems.
Look at symptoms that might
describe what’s going on in your company right now.
Testimonials
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Elaine and I will be eternally
grateful for what you did in helping us get out of an
awful mess. You learned in your year working with us how
really tough our industry is. But we did it (actually
you did it) and both Elaine and I thank you many times
over. We are doing well now with your simple but very
effective strategies. We send our best to you. --Bill
Gilford |
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We interviewed three consultants
before we met you. It didn’t take Joseph and me more
than 15 minutes to agree that you were clearly far more
understanding of what our problems were. No one asked us
the kinds of questions that you did. How could they come
up with solutions if they didn’t take the time to listen
to us? But you listened and now we are on the road to
recovery. --Martha Cummings |
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Personally, I thought the men and
women we interviewed for help in solving our company’s
problems all talked too much. When our accountant, Ben,
referred us to you he said that the first two questions
you would ask were—what are your problems and how
serious are you in solving them? And you did ask those
questions and then you listened. We’re well on our way
making money again. Thank you for everything you did for
us. --Morris Gold |
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