As a business turnaround specialist there is one very strong and defining outcome from businesses that fail. They fail because managers fail. Every year there are 1000’s of businesses that succumb to bankruptcy with as many more deciding to close the doors because they simply can’t realise a profit. They are solvent but just don’t see the efforts as financially worthwhile to keep their doors open. In the cases I have been involved with, these potential failures were in actual fact a failure to foresee the full success that was both possible and desirable.
Organisation failures can usually be attributed to a number of basic causes which is common across most business types. There is usually no forward planning, no strategic business plan, no financial controls or even an effective budget appreciation, and certainly no respect for cash flow management. There is also a lack of understanding and respect for the marketplace and what it demands.
How do I espouse that Businesses fail because Managers fail? It is really simple. Things don’t just happen, people make them happen or prevent them from happening. It is usually, a lack of planning, poor judgement, taking the marketplace for granted, or even taking the workforce for granted.
I have always learned from successful people, utilised world best practice concepts, tried not to re-invent the wheel, and strategised to not only grow the business, but develop employees at all levels and make them into marketable assets.
We should never, ever, consider our business to be so strong that there is little or no possibility of it failing. These thoughts could well be a catalyst for failure?
Managers committed to success are proactive and will commission independent external experts to regularly assist in reviewing their operations to ensure the overall environment is fluid and complimentary of the necessary changes to stay ahead of the competition and achieve sustainable growth and best practice profit levels.
