One of the great things for me is that my clients treat me as part of their management team, not just an outsider coming in to resolve or advise on specific issues.
This enables me to contribute more fully and with a far greater understanding of solutions and advice relevant to each business as a whole, rather than offering generic solutions, which may or may not be relevant, depending upon management abilities at the time, and their ability to implement effective future actions.
Recently a client considering retirement contacted me; he had been approached with (what he considered) a reasonable offer for 100% shareholding of his company and he wanted my considered opinion.
His company is long established and has been handed down over many generations of the same family, providing a very comfortable and privileged lifestyle.
At first view the offer, a seven-figure sum, appeared reasonable but first view is not, in my opinion, sufficient to make a considered response on such an important matter and thus my approach was to dig deeper and to put myself into the position of the potential buyer to see what they were seeing, before reporting back to my client.
It can be surprising just how much clearer things become by spending some time stepping back and looking into a situation, rather than standing-in and then looking out.
Whilst his business was doing just fine on a year-to-year basis, what became abundantly clear was that the amount of effort required to move from this very comfortable position to being able to significantly improve and increase profitability was in-fact very small and relatively easy to do - this was quite obviously what the buyer was recognising.
My client has always judged his business on the basis of profit achieved as stated in year-end financial accounts; his potential buyer was seeing opportunity not in what was stated, but in what could be.
It is so important that management recognise that financial information is not simply about year-end accounts, profit and tax – these are events, resultant outcomes, management have the great opportunity of influencing what results are going to be, but action is required.
Managing your business should not be left to chance, or simply thinking that you are happy with what you have, because unless you are truly managing your business how can you be sure that you will retain such a comfortable position going forward?
Business management is not about best effort; business management is about focus and moving forward with purpose.
It is a learned skill matched with individual personality that is constantly evolving for betterment. It is also a skill that can be greatly enhanced through supportive mentoring and coaching, challenging you to challenge yourself and especially with regards to moving outside of your existing comfort zones of work.
My years of experience in helping businesses to achieve have made me very aware that the single biggest difference between ordinary and great companies is down to the individuals who manage their organizations.
Helping them to help themselves really does make the difference, throughout their organisation and ultimately, at year-end, when annual performance is measured.
Why not talk to us at Team Management to see just how we may be able to help you and your business?
Whether you have a need for consulting, mentoring, management training or would just simply like to a better understanding of how we may be able to help you create a safer, better and more valuable enterprise then please make contact with us, we would love to hear from you:
chris@team-manage.co.uk