Articles & Book Reviews About Business Turnaround
Do you feel the future of your business is threatened unless performance turns around sharply in the next few months?
Business Turnaround is a stage of decline beyond Getting Stuck but less severe than Business Failure, at least at the moment.
The important thing for business turnaround situations i that there is still some time left to make much needed changes and some resources to finance those changes.
In medium to large businesses, turnaround will involve the appointment of a specialist turnaround manager or a turnaround management team. That’s not normally affordable in a smaller business.
Here the business owner or owners need to take the decisions necessary to turnaround the business themselves, perhaps aided by working with a turnaround coach.
There are a lot of posts about business turnaround. here are the links to page 2 – page 3 – page 4 – page 5 – page 6
by Paul Simister
on June 21, 2020
The full title of this book by Brain Tracy is
Crunch Point: The Secret to Succeeding When It Matters Most
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a 5 Stars rating. This means it is Excellent.
Here is my book review.
An excellent book to help business owners and managers through difficult times
I’m a fan of the author. He’s a great synthesiser of ideas and advice across a wide range of subjects. He and his team clearly research very carefully before they put together his books and audio recordings. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on July 23, 2018
This is an article from P1M3 How Profit is Created in the Pillar 1 Your Key Numbers.
Monitoring Your Break Even Point Each Month
If your business has been losing money or you’re actively in a business turnaround process, I believe it’s important to calculate your break even point with each set of monthly management accounts.
You can do it on a month by month basis but, like a lot of financial statistics, it can go up and down and make it hard to see the trend.
Using Moving Annual Calculations
One option I like in practice is a calculate moving annual statistic for Break Even Points, partly because it’s normal to think in terms of performance in a year. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on July 10, 2018
Business Turnaround Coaching: Who Can It Work For And Who Needs More?
What is Business Turnaround Coaching?
Business Turnaround Coaching is halfway between traditional business coaching and turnaround management.
Traditional business coaching works very well for many growing businesses and is often a six months or twelve months improvement project as the coach and business owner work together. You would systematically work through your business, improving areas of weakness and testing new ideas in areas of strength.
Turnaround management is much more dramatic. It involves a turnaround specialist taking over management control of a struggling business that is on the verge of failure. It’s normally full time and the duration depends on the severity of the problems and the size and complexity of the business.
Business Turnaround Coaching recognises the need for fast improvement in a business but is less intrusive than turnaround management but much more intensive than traditional business coaching. For example, my 30 Days Business Coaching Boot Camp has daily contact with the business owner for 30 consecutive days Monday to Friday to maintain focus and accountability on the most important improvement efforts. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on July 9, 2018
The full title of this book by Sandy Steinman is
The Small Business Turnaround Guide: Take Your Business from Troubled to Triumphant
In my review of posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Five Stars. This means it is Very Highly Recommended.
Here is my review.
A very good book for helping under performing businesses
I feel this book gets off to a bad start by trying to be funny about a bad situation. It doesn’t create the right impression. It immediately corrects itself by saying there is nothing funny about a failing business.
Many turnaround books are written about big businesses but this one is aimed at owner managed businesses. It starts by giving you a pep talk. It’s going to be tough to turnaround your business but you can do it. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on July 5, 2018
How Do Turnaround Management And Turnaround Coaching Compare For A Small Business In Financial Difficulties?
There are three main ways businesses get into financial trouble:
- A business start-up that has failed to achieved lift-off to become a viable business.
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- A business that has hit a sudden financial problem often caused by a large bad debt, losing a contract with a major customer or a disaster situation like a major fire or flood.
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- A business has gone into gradual decline.
If the business is to survive, it must be turned around before the money runs out and before it becomes insolvent without any realistic prospect of recovery.
Please note, insolvency is a legal issue where there can be serious implications for the directors and shareholders and you will need to check the legal situation in your own country. If in doubt, my advice is to consult an insolvency professional.
The turnaround solutions depend on the cause of the problem. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on July 3, 2018
The full title of this book by Michael Teng is
Corporate Turnaround: Nursing a sick company back to health
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 4 Stars. This means it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my review.
A proper book about business turnarounds
This is a proper book about business turnarounds.
It compares business health to personal health and shows how the turnaround process is similar to the medical process of diagnosis, prescription of a treatment plan and cure. This is a useful analogy but the author pushes it too far and it becomes tiresome. The three stages used in the book are surgery, resuscitation and nursing. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 9, 2018
The full title of this book by Dr Andre Larabie is
How to Turn Your Failing Business Into a Success Story in 120 Days or Less!
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Three Stars. This means I think it is Worthwhile.
Here is my book review.
A nice idea but skimpy on important details
I read quite a few books about business turnaround and several books by this author have appeared regularly in my searches but, until recently, I didn’t buy.
Now I have and I’m left with mixed feelings. It wasn’t as good as I’d hoped but it is certainly better than some. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 6, 2018
In my review of
Top 100 Tips for Business Turnaround by Paul Davis
posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Three Stars. This means it is Worthwhile.
Here is my book review.
I don’t think this works
It starts with a series of short tips and questions about how to manage a business better.
At that stage, I was thinking this isn’t a book about business turnaround. Fortunately it eventually got more focused. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 5, 2018
The full title of this book by Jesse Mecham is
PACE: A Small Business Owner’s Guide to Complete Cash Flow Clarity
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Four Stars. This means it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
Interesting way to think through cash flow management.
A young CPA (accountant) with a software business selling budgeting software has developed a way of managing his cash flow.
As he tells his story about his uncertainties regarding cash flow, he seems remarkably absent minded ideas like a short term cash flow forecast let alone a longer term one. Yes you have to make assumptions and they can be wrong but it’s the way people normally work in bigger organisations as well as startups requiring funding. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on June 3, 2018
The full title of this book by Stacy Tuschl is
Is Your Business Worth Saving?: A Step-by-Step Guide to Rescuing Your Business and Your Sanity
In my review posted to Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Four Stars. This means it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
A female view on managing a business
The book starts with a charming story of how the author accidentally found herself in business.
After reading a few badly written books recently, it’s a pleasure to find one that is well organised and flows, making it easy to read. [continue reading…]
