Monday, February 24, 2014

IS YOUR BUSINESS LEANING?

Recently I had the opportunity to listen to a man give a brief history of the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy. He spoke of how it was built on soft sand and actually started leaning as it was being built a thousand years ago but the builders kept right on building. Then as the years went by, engineers tried to pour concrete on the side not leaning in an effort to help it tilt back but that didn't work. Seveal other attempts were made but in this 21st century the leaning tower of Pisa is still leaning.

I don't know if all of the history the gentlemen gave us is actually accurate but I couldn't help but relate the issue to our industry. How many of us just started trying to build our business without a real plan of attack and if it wasn't working, we just kept shoveling and shoveling hoping that by doing the same things over and over again we would get different results?

Many times the companies that are really small after many years of operation aren't that way because they want to be. Oh I know, some people want to be small and I commend them for that and wish them all continued success. But most companies start up wanting to grow into something larger but the problem is many don't take the time to build their company on solid ground. For instance,

1. Has a solid sales plan been established? Do you know EXACTLY the segments of business you want in your portfolio and how to secure those accounts. What is the plan if you hit a bump in the road?

2. Are you building a SOLID Human Resource and Operations staff? Are you recruiting the kind of people you need and want for long term success or are you just hiring to fill slots as they occur and hope the people you hire will make it to their first paycheck?

3. Along with item 2 above, have you developed a CONSISTENT orientation and training program for your staff and I don't just mean the cleaning staff?  Do you have a path for success for the mid level management staff so they continue to grow and develop as you grow and develop your business?

4. How about your admnistrative system? Do you have an accounting system that will tell you what is really happening with the numbers on a day to day basis or do you put everything in a shoe box and take it to your brother-in-law at the end of the month to try and sort everything out when he gets time? And if he doesn't have time this month?

Let me encourage you to do a checkup TODAY of all phases of your business. Is your sales program working the way it should or is there just as much going out the back door as there is coming in the front door? Or worse yet, is more going out the back door than is coming in the front door? If so, what are we going to do about it. Hiring another sales person is not the answer. I remember talking recently with the branch manager of a large national company who told me his branch had put on over $2 million dollars in new business the previous year but had lost over $2 million in business. When I asked him what he was doing to correct the situation he said he had just hired a new sales person to bring in more business. That was not the answer. There has to be a reason he is losing $2 million in business every year. I am guessing he will probably lose $3 million in business this year as his new sales person brings on a million in new business.

Is your training program up to date and being utilized as it should be? Have you embraced electronic media to assist you in enhancing your training? Are you sending your mid level staff to management classes to help them improve?

Do you know EXACTLY what your financial status is on a daily basis? Are your receivables current? Are you invoicing on a timely basis? Are you checking your labor every day for overages and underages and making needed corrections?

Managing a business today to keep it from leaning is not easy. It can be very rewarding but not necessarily easy. It is critical to make sure all the moving parts are moving in harmony with each other and in the right direction. If one department begins to lean too far it can affect the entire organization.

So, let me ask you. Is your business leaning today---in the wrong direction? If so, take steps NOW before it sinks into the soft sand being spread at your feet by your competitiors. I wish you the very best in your building process. There is no better time than TODAY.

Till next time.







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