Wouldn’t it be terrific if there were a magic pill that owners of small businesses could take which would make them masters of profitability? Well unfortunately there is no magic pill but over the last 34 years as a turnaround specialist for small businesses in which I have helped hundreds of small businesses survive I discovered some very specific processes that separate winning companies from losing companies and that’s what we’re going to explore in this next series of articles’. These processes if implemented will turn a company that is experiencing difficulties into a Company that is really doing well.

Why is this important? Well, according to the SBA over 600,000 small businesses fail each year and that’s a load of shattered dreams and ruined lives. It also accounts for millions of lost jobs each year which makes an already ugly unemployment picture even more grotesque.

While there are a lot of differences between winning companies and losing companies, there is one commonality that they both share. It’s been my experience that the owners of both types of companies really have the all the answers that they need to make their businesses successful and that’s not true most of the time it is true every time. There was a time when I didn’t recognize that. I was sure that I had all the answers and all I needed my clients to do was follow my lead. But one day I was working with a client on the beltway in DC. His company consulted with the government on submarine nuclear warfare so he was a consultant also. The project was really successful; my job was to develop a succession plan for the owner. he had no children, what he had was 10 retired admirals each of whom ran a division and each of who truly believed they should not only be allowed to run the company I’m fairly sure they each felt they should be allowed to run the world. Talk about a room full of egos. But I did my job, named the successor and convinced each of the other Admirals that their job was probably more important than the CEO spot. We didn’t lose one of them. So the owner and I went out to dinner. Before we left for dinner he pulled an envelope out of the safe and told me that we were going to look at its contents at dinner, I of course was feeling pretty good about myself and then he opened the envelope and showed me the name he had written down before I started the project. Of course it matched the Admiral that I had chosen. He then asked me if I knew what the definition of a consultant was. He told me the answer which was that a consultant was someone who borrows your wrist watch and then tells you what time it is. And that was a great revelation to me There is a great difference between a business owner who knows what the answer is, knows what change needs to be made and can make the changes and an owner who knows what the answer is, knows what changes need to be made and just can’t make the necessary changes. And don’t underestimate just how difficult change is to bring about. In fact that’s the reason that consultants like me are needed, we are change agents. Machiavelli recognized it when he said” It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions and only lukewarm defenders among those who may do well under the new” Truer words were never spoken. And that’s why consultants like me who are really change agents can make a good living, we understand a lot about processes and know how to bring change about. We could spend a couple of hours or more talking about the process of change, but I can assure you, the process exists. We will continue to explore this subject in our next article.

Sandy Steinman, the Author of The Small Business Turnaround Guide-Take Your Business from Troubled to Triumphant, is a consultant and a turnaround specialist for small businesses. The book can be purchased at: http://www.businessturnaroundguide.com. Sandy is President of Profitability Partners.

Sandy Steinman, the Author of The Small Business Turnaround Guide-Take Your Business from Troubled to Triumphant, is a consultant and a turnaround specialist for small businesses. The book can be purchased at: http://www.businessturnaroundguide.com. Sandy is President of Profitability Partners.

Author Bio: Sandy Steinman, the Author of The Small Business Turnaround Guide-Take Your Business from Troubled to Triumphant, is a consultant and a turnaround specialist for small businesses. The book can be purchased at: http://www.businessturnaroundguide.com. Sandy is President of Profitability Partners.

Category: Business Management
Keywords: turnaround, small business,