The market and your competition are changing all the time. Similarly, the sales and marketing function of your business needs tending all the time. But which principles apply to business aspects that are 80% science and 20% art?
Any business cycle downturn produces unique opportunities for the CEO who is prepared to take advantage. What systems and people should you have in place, and when should you strike?
In the adverse conditions that exist in today’s economy, CEOs must be realistic about achievable objectives, not over-spending or panicking in futile attempts to grow revenues or profits. What’s your call: do you change direction or continue to buck the headwinds?
It’s time for all us CEOs to begin practicing the skills of managing in a rebounding economy. Not that all of us are out of practice; companies rebound in all sorts of economic conditions. And companies go through their own personal “downturns” all the time–even in a strong economy.
Businesses grow and win because they invest in areas that make them more unique, and more special. They do not succeed because they invest their cash so that they can save overhead. So how should we be investing in our businesses so they emerge better and stronger? There are three basic parts to the process.
When adversity hit, these leaders battled back and gave us all something to learn. Inside Alliance private working groups, we hear with some regularity jaw-dropping events that land on the chief executive’s desk. Sometimes they are simply challenging opportunities, but often they are disasters that threaten the survival of the business.
Hard times can befall a business for many reasons, of which the economy is only one. If you look objectively at the situation and find your environment in a temporary downturn, your goal is to outlast that downturn and have a strong company when good times return. Here are the tactics you use before the downturn hits.
Investors are easy to understand. They don’t care about CEO’s dreams and plans in the broad sense. They just want what they want, and what they want is financial results. These are the questions to ask yourself before you ask for other people’s money.
One of the fundamental truths of business is that cash is king. Too many firms run so lean that they are at risk of shutdown if any large problems arise. Find out where cash goes, where it should go, and how to stay in a comfortable range.
All banks make a good show of listening to you. But only some banks really hear what you have to say. There are strategies you can employ to improve your banking status, and back-up plans in case the relationship turns sour.
Robert Sher is founding principal of CEO to CEO, a consulting firm of former chief executives that improves the leadership infrastructure of midsized companies seeking to accelerate their performance. He was chief executive of Bentley Publishing Group from 1984 to 2006 and steered the firm to become a leading player in its industry (decorative art publishing).