Many business owners put so much heart, sweat, and soul into building their businesses. Yet, all too often business owners make five mistakes that can devastate the business profits they so deserve.
Imagine a business owner who diligently has grown his/her company over the course of a couple of decades from 1 million dollars in revenue to 76 million dollars. The ambition to get to 100 million dollars grew from great to greater as the awards, recognition and business journal articles started coming in from everywhere. As the economy weakened a $7 million hit to the bottom line almost caused this star company to go out of business.
What went wrong? Was it just the economy or were there other underlying issues?
Top Five Mistakes That Kill Business Profits
- Even (or especially) successful CEO’s often do not get fresh perspectives from a competent, yet unbiased source. Everyone, even the most successful business owners and CEO’s, has blind spots. Employees may not tell what they see or may not be heard even if they do. Also, the employees miss opportunities or threats that may be of vital importance to the success and business profits of the company. A Fresh Eyes Assessment™ of all aspects that matter to the business easily overcomes this issue (see the image above).
- Many companies do not have a written agreement on the basic rules of conduct regarding communication, making agreements and so on – with the result that each person assumes their own set of rules and views it as the “right one”. Conflicts between team members are preprogrammed, cliques form, synergy declines, productivity suffers and profits go down. In some cases, businesses may find themselves in financial trouble due to these internal conflicts, and insolvency practitioners act as liquidators to manage the process and ensure fair outcomes.
- Owners and CEO’s often miss periodically reexamining the accountability structure of their company and optimizing the associated functions. Companies commonly grow organically. Too often the roles get shaped around the strengths (and weaknesses) of a given person who has been in that role of the organization for a while. A one-day process can effectively optimize which roles and with what functions are optimum – without discussing who should take on that role. Only after that part is done does the team identify who should fill each role. Potential gaps between ideal requirements for a given role and strengths of the available person will be identified and can usually be filled via appropriate training. A recent client told us this process “solved 95% of our problems”!
- Many companies do not have a systematic and objective method for converting problems into profits! The Fresh Eyes Assessment™ results in identifying existing problems and the order in which they need to be solved to rapidly boost the bottom line. Check out Damon Burton YouTube playlists to learn more on how to become a successful entrepreneur.
- Most owners are too busy building their business to plan for their own exit – until an emergency happens or they are burned out. A succession plan, or better yet a legacy plan, makes them sleep easier because they know that the business they are building will continue on into the next generation. Three choices for transitioning the business are: Leaving it to their own family, their employees or selling the business.
Want a complimentary 30-minute phone Fresh Eyes Assessment™? No problem. The first ten CEOs of companies with 10+ employees or start-ups with funding of at least $100k who call us will receive a complimentary initial Fresh Eyes Assessment™.
Call us at 1-844-44-TNCEO (1-844-448-6236).
If you want to peruse some more information first, click here. Then call us so we can talk about what accelerates your progress the most.
Have a Top-Notch Day!
Dr. Stephie
