The most common symptoms of an ailing company are:
- Lack of time.
- Uncertain or inconsistent cash flow.
- Not enough of the “right” employees.
- Not enough of the “right” customers.
“Most ailing organizations are not suffering because they cannot resolve their problems but because they cannot see their problems.” – John Gardner
Most struggling entrepreneurs scramble for money and time and almost always it is due to saying “yes” to working with almost everyone.
Inconsistent or inadequate cash flow is the most devastating of the four most common problems most businesses have.
Does this sound familiar?
- “We’re just one project, one client away. Once I sign this deal, we’ll be good.”
- Borrowing money to meet payroll.
- Not paying yourself.
- Asking a key employee, usually a trusted manager, to hold off cashing his check until “Monday”
The say yes to everyone strategy is not sustainable.
Our 80/20 Assessment Analysis will identify, with absolute “black & white” clarity, who you should be working with and who you need to fire.
80/20 Assessment is about first identifying the customers who you are losing money on, who you are stocking inventory for that you don’t need, who make you cringe when you see their number on caller ID, who demoralize your staff, who pay late, who beat you down to the very last penny, etc. etc. etc.
When you have eliminated the deadwood you now have breathing space.
Could you cut back on staff? With the money you freed up in unnecessary inventory, where could you invest that more wisely?
You now have time to innovate and systematize your business.
Once we’ve helped you clear out the bad, the second step is to identify the very top clients and then implement knock-their-socks-off service and products for these select clients.
Through targeted marketing you now can nurture them and strengthen the relationship.
You can now start serving them so extraordinarily well, that they start to come in more often, purchase more when they do come in and become your private army of outside salespeople and refer more like them.
Every time you clean house you make room for more of your ideal clients.
More clients is not the answer. More of the right clients is the answer.
This is how you grow and expand your business the 80/20 way and eliminate the symptoms of an ailing business.