Business Turnaround podcast
Welcome to ”Business Turnaround,” your go-to podcast for insightful strategies on managing companies in decline or distress. Hosted by Marek Niedzwiedz, a leading hands-on turnaround investor in SMEs, this podcast delves into the critical aspects of business recovery. Tailored for blue-collar industries, this podcast is ideal for business owners, consultants, and aspiring entrepreneurs. ”Business Turnaround” provides the knowledge and tools you need to navigate challenging times and drive your company toward success. Tune in to discover actionable insights and inspiring stories of business transformation in the blue-collar sector.
Episodes

4 days ago
4 days ago
If there’s one thing I’ve learned after years of turning around businesses—from logistics to retail to homecare—it’s this: speed beats strategy when you’re in trouble. In normal times, it’s okay to debate. To polish the PowerPoint. To wait until you have 90% of the data. But in a turnaround? That luxury is gone. Delay is the enemy. If you wait for the perfect plan, you’ll miss the window for any plan to work...

Thursday May 08, 2025
Why Stakeholder Trust Is Your Most Valuable Turnaround Asset
Thursday May 08, 2025
Thursday May 08, 2025
When your business is in trouble—sales dropping, costs rising, cash getting tight—your first instinct might be to cut, freeze, or fight. But here’s a turnaround truth most leaders miss: your biggest asset isn’t what’s on your balance sheet. It’s the trust of your stakeholders.

Thursday May 01, 2025
How Refocusing Can Save Your Business
Thursday May 01, 2025
Thursday May 01, 2025
In a turnaround, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking the answer is just more effort. Work harder. Push sales more. Squeeze costs harder. But in reality, when a business starts slipping, it’s often because the very strategy it's built on no longer fits the market. The world has moved. Customer needs have shifted. Competitors have evolved. And you? You might be selling the right product… to the wrong customer… or delivering it in a way that doesn’t make sense anymore. That’s where Strategic Reorientation comes in.

Thursday Apr 24, 2025
Leading Through the Storm
Thursday Apr 24, 2025
Thursday Apr 24, 2025
In the early stages of decline, most leaders freeze. They wait, they hope, they delay hard decisions. And in doing so, they surrender the steering wheel. But a business in trouble needs the exact opposite—it needs someone who grabs the wheel, decides the destination, and gets everyone on board with urgency and clarity.

Thursday Apr 17, 2025
Reviving Cash Flow
Thursday Apr 17, 2025
Thursday Apr 17, 2025
When a business is struggling, cash flow is often the first alarm bell that rings. It’s not just a number on a spreadsheet—it’s the oxygen your company needs to survive and thrive. Without a stable flow of cash, even the best products, the strongest customer relationships, and the most innovative ideas can’t keep your business afloat.

Thursday Apr 10, 2025
Changing from Within: Culture and Process in a Turnaround
Thursday Apr 10, 2025
Thursday Apr 10, 2025
I’ve worked with plenty of struggling companies—some in manufacturing, others in care, retail, logistics—you name it. And one truth always shows up: turning around a business isn’t just about fixing the numbers. It’s about shifting the culture and the internal systems that allowed the decline to happen in the first place.

Thursday Apr 03, 2025
The Answers Are Already in Your Business
Thursday Apr 03, 2025
Thursday Apr 03, 2025
When a business starts struggling, there’s often a rush to hire consultants, spend money on reports, or brainstorm high-level strategies in a room full of executives. And don’t get me wrong - those things can help. But too often, the people who really know what’s going wrong are the ones who are never invited to those meetings - the forklift driver, the machine operator, the warehouse supervisor, the customer service rep who deals with client complaints all day long.

Thursday Mar 27, 2025
When Mergers Go Wrong: Lessons for Turnaround Success
Thursday Mar 27, 2025
Thursday Mar 27, 2025
When companies are in trouble, merging with another business often seems like a quick fix—a way to scale, cut costs, or breathe new life into operations. But here’s the hard truth: most mergers between private companies don’t work out. Instead of solving problems, they compound them. And if you’re not careful, what you thought was a lifeline can end up being an anchor.

Thursday Mar 20, 2025
Leading a Turnaround with the Team You Have—Not the One You Wish For
Thursday Mar 20, 2025
Thursday Mar 20, 2025
In an ideal world, every struggling company would have a team of top-tier managers and high-performing employees ready to execute a turnaround plan. But that’s rarely the case. When a company is in trouble, instability makes it difficult to attract top talent. Often, you’re working with the same team that got the business into trouble in the first place—or a team that’s already demoralized and skeptical about the future.

Thursday Mar 13, 2025
Challenges into Opportunities. A New Mindset for Business Turnaround
Thursday Mar 13, 2025
Thursday Mar 13, 2025
A business turnaround isn’t just about fixing problems—it’s about reframing them into opportunities for growth, innovation, and transformation. Think about two business owners facing the same challenge. One sees declining sales as a sign that the business is failing. The other sees it as a sign that the market has changed and that there’s an opportunity to pivot, adapt, and improve.