The owner of the business was run ragged, constantly fire fighting and doing menial tasks. There were problems with staff, customer complaints, maintenance, suppliers etc. He was constantly stressed. He never had time for his family and friends or to enjoy the fruits of his efforts.
The real cost of this was that he was too busy to work on growing the business and on other exciting business opportunities he had. Essentially, he needed to replace himself. He didn’t think that was possible because he believed, rightly, that he could never replace himself.
What was needed now though was someone to run the business he had created. He needed convincing that he could trust somebody to do this.
With our support he created a job description and person specification of a general manager he felt he could work with. We helped him to create the procedures for setting business targets and checking that they were complied with. These were thorough and ensured that he felt he had total confidence in the process and that he wouldn’t lose control of the business.
This way, he got control back over his life and was able to grow the business. He had also gained a new set of skills he could use to create and control new businesses.
The sales team couldn’t convert the enquiries into orders. Efforts had been made to restructure the team and even some of the sales personnel had been replaced without effect. Sales were to the Operations Managers but the buying decision lay with their Managing Director’s. The OM’s were struggling to convince their MD’s to change products.
We identified that the unique quality of the product was the business owner’s knowledge and expertise in the industry. The business provided a range of bespoke solutions. He was highly regarded for the quality of the solutions he provided for customers challenges.
We suggested that he present himself as an expert in his field. To this end he created a presentation tour and delivered it to the Operation Mangers nationally and internationally. He invited the OM’s to provide a sample of the issue they wish to treat and he analysed it to determine the specification of the treatment he proposed. He gave each one an expert report on the requirement based on an analysis of their samples. The OM’s presented the report and their recommendation to the MD’s. In giving the MD’s “ownership” of the scientific knowledge they got approval to change supplier to our client. The sales team now became order completers, which resulted in increased sales.
The clients market had changed significantly due to increased regulatory requirements. The changing economic environment had also impacted on the products he could offer his clients. He had to commit extra long hours in order to stand still.
The industry was no longer the one he had built his business in. It had become a compliance exercise. Each sale generated hours of compliance work that he couldn’t afford to outsource. This type of work didn’t suit his personality. As a result, it wasn’t getting done. In turn, this impacted on his sales and on his confidence. It was also impacting on his health and family life.
With our support, he identified the essence of his core personality, skills, and networks. He was a peoples’ person. He had developed great trust with his networks and he was excellent at making introductions and sourcing contacts. He came to understand that his performance had reduced because he was no longer doing the work he liked doing and that this was something he could change.
We helped him create a plan of action that he could easily implement. It was designed to give him confidence, focus and results. He changed his business model from completing compliance forms, to building relationships and making profitable introductions. He was back to doing the work he enjoyed and that he was best at. His confidence and performance significantly improved.
They were owed money but feared pushing customers for payment in case they lost their business. They had an excellent reputation for delivering the service they provided. They needed finance as they had a great opportunity to expand. It quickly became apparent that they were owed far more money than they were trying to raise.
They did not rely on contracts. It wasn’t even clear if they had agreed payment terms casually. Their invoices were hand written and delivered on payment. Provided they had enough income to live on, they let arrears mount up.
Together, we examined the cost of the arrears i.e. chasing the arrears and bad debts. We also looked at the cost of finance. This was the equivalent of a months pay for each the 2 partners when these two costs were added together. They didn’t want to loose “good” repeat customers by chasing arrears but faced with this evidence they decided to act. They realised that not getting paid on time was costly. They agreed a process of collecting all the arrears. They created a new contract that stated the terms of payment. As they had the opportunity of work from new customers, the used this as leverage to get the arrears paid.
The result was, they raised more money than they needed to tool up for the new work.
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