Turnaround implies that a company, business, or business unit is in such trouble – financially, strategically, organizationally, technologically or otherwise – that an overhaul of systems, personnel or policies and procedures is necessary. This overhaul is intended to reverse any negative impacts and to start a healing of sorts toward newly aligned vision, mission, values, strategy and goals. In short, troubled companies need to be turned around and pointed toward a healthy, profitable, effective and efficient end game.
Unlike cleanup, which gets a bad rap despite its being a good thing, turnaround usually only comes up when a company is in dire straits. In fact, turnaround could mean temporarily slowing down performance, halting or shuttering operations or functions, downsizing personnel, or other actions that at first seem counterintuitive. The road to taking a troubled company from deeply rooted challenges and issues to healthy profits and thriving operations is not easy or necessarily pleasant. For this reason, not every company needs turnaround.
At Master of TACT, we help clients get comfortable with the idea of turning around their businesses by invoking it only as a last resort or only if we’re specifically called into a relationship to do so. To minimize the negative impacts – like low employee morale, loss of income or profits, loss of brand equity, to name a few – we emphasize the value of moving the company through troubleshooting, analysis and cleanup as comfortably as possible. In many cases, challenged businesses can correct course with some cleanup that results in long-term best practices. Still, for the cases that require more drastic attention and effort, here’s how we help entrepreneurs and their companies through turnaround:
- First, as stated already, we rely on the trust and rapport we build with clients through early stages of our work with them, namely the work we do to troubleshoot, analyze, and clean up processes, policies and procedures.
- Next, we use that foundation to effect one of two main objectives: to strategize a new vision for the company by leveraging existing means create a new future altogether or to work with business owners to develop business, marketing, and strategic plans to correct course toward already sound vision, mission, and core values. This requires us to use active listening, as clients often have really great ideas about getting to the right place for their companies and simply need direction to get there.
- Then, we realistically share and discuss possible realities of the toll a turnaround effort could take on the owner, the business, its employees and other stakeholders. Using tools like stakeholder analysis and accounting for social responsibility, we derive a series of alternatives from which business owners can choose after weighting and scoring each. During this stage, we implore owners and senior managers to walk through some best case and worst case scenarios.
- Finally, we work with owners and their top management to implement their chosen course, encouraging top-down and bottom-up communication throughout the process and developing management tools to monitor and evaluate results.
In the case of JP’s wood trim and cabinetry business, we implemented an early-stage turnaround, with his input and final approval at every stage of the process, by overhauling his company’s accounting system, analyzing and revamping his filing system, streamlining and digitizing some key processes, and establishing quarterly check-ins to evaluate his progress and to correct course as needed. Since that time, whenever we get phone calls from JP, it is to initiate a new growth-related project, like upping his marketing game or drafting an employee handbook. Might JP’s company have survived without a turnaround intervention? Sure. Might his business now be thriving without taking some important steps covered in our turnaround? Not likely, largely because the administrative burden of business growth must be well supported and structurally sound. Growth without structure underpins many small-business startup and growth failures, and the turnaround efforts we used in JP’s case ensured that his company was properly structured for the growth he has brought to his business since then.
Whether you’re starting a new company, taking over another business, purchasing a franchise, or heading a company you’ve established already, find out today how we can help you master TACT through strategic troubleshooting, analysis, cleanup and turnaround. Ask us a question or request a free initial consultation. Where is your business idea or company right now? If you’re facing crippling issues that prevent you from enjoying the entrepreneur life, what steps are you prepared to take to right the ship and get back on track? How can you engage Master of TACT in supporting you in that endeavor? We look forward to hearing from you and to responding as promptly and TACTfully as possible.
