Business Turnaround podcast

When a business is in distress, the instinct is often to do more—try new things, add more services, expand into different areas. But, when your business is in survival mode, doing more often leads to greater complexity and higher costs. What your business really needs is less. Less complication, less waste, and fewer unnecessary activities. Simplifying and focusing on efficiency can be the keys to turning things around. But why Efficiency Matters in a Turnaround?

When your business is in distress, you can’t afford to make decisions based on gut feelings or past experiences alone. You need hard data, and more importantly, you need a vision of how different actions and scenarios will impact your company’s financial future. This is where forecasting scenarios becomes so valuable.

When we think about turning a business around, the first instinct is often to focus on growing sales. The fastest way to profitability though is often found by cutting costs. This isn’t glamorous, and it can be uncomfortable, but when a business is on the edge, cutting expenses is one of the quickest levers you can pull to extend your cash runway. It’s about survival first, and profit second.

Turning a business around is an intense process. The stakes are high, and the pressure can be overwhelming. As leaders, we often get so focused on saving the company that we neglect our most important asset—ourselves. But as Jim Rohn famously said, "Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live." This applies just as much to our mental well-being as it does to our physical health. In a turnaround, you need to be at your best, and that requires taking care of both.

When we think about turning a business around, the first things that come to mind are cutting costs or improving efficiency. While these are important, the supply chain is an area that can be significantly improved during a turnaround and have a profound impact on a company’s recovery. Your supply chain directly affects almost every part of your business: production, inventory, delivery, customer satisfaction, and, of course, costs.

Understanding how to manage working capital can mean the difference between success and bankruptcy. It’s a silent killer, often lurking behind the scenes, quietly draining resources and slowing down growth. But once you know what to look for, it’s a challenge you can overcome.Sustainable Growth Rate - how fast you can actually grow without putting your business at risk?

Liquidation is often seen as the last, unwanted resort. It's the word that no business owner wants to hear, and the option we all hope we can avoid. But sometimes, after exploring every avenue, every turnaround strategy, liquidation becomes the most pragmatic choice. And while it's never easy, it can be the cleanest and most responsible way to minimize losses, clear debts, and free up resources for new projects.

In business, especially when you’re in a turnaround situation, perfection is often the enemy of profitability. When you’re waiting for the perfect information, the perfect opportunity, or the perfect solution, you’ll likely be waiting forever. Worse, by the time you’ve perfected everything, your business might have already missed key opportunities to move forward.

When your business is in trouble, one of the first areas you need to assess is how your company is generating revenue. It’s not just about how much money is coming in; it’s about whether the way you’re making that money is sustainable. During a turnaround, it’s essential to break down your revenue channels and take a hard look at what’s working, what isn’t, and what needs to be changed.

In a business crisis, one of the hardest truths to face is that the same team that led the company into trouble is rarely the team that can lead it back out. This isn’t just about competence; it’s about mindset, energy, and vision. The reality of a turnaround is that sometimes you have no choice but to sweep out the old to make way for the new.