Turning Around a Troubled Business

Drastic measures and focused efforts can get you back on track

By Jackie Larson

Whether you need to revitalize your company or actually resuscitate it, turning around a troubled business requires focused efforts. You must focus on the crisis and the opportunity at hand. Assess just how dire the situation is by figuring out if your company is just a little off track or needs professional help to make a complete U-turn. Turning a troubled business around may involve harsher methods than usual to deal with problems, much like avoiding an imminent wreck can require slamming on brakes or veering sharply. It can be broken down into three processes:

Realize the root of the problem
Rethink your business strategy
Restructure the business process

Find the source of the problem

Is spending and debt out of control? Do you have the wrong people in place, not enough or too many? Does the product or service you offer successfully target the needs of the customer/market? Facing these issues will help focus your rebuilding efforts.
Try: The Phoenix Effect: 9 Revitalizing Strategies No Business Can Do Without" by Carter Pate and Harlan Platt maps out a nine-step path to corporate revitalization. To help rethink your strategy, search for a business coach by state at the Professional Business Coaches Alliance.

Know your financial situation

An honest assessment of your company's financial strengths and weaknesses - including capital, debt and cash flow - is critical for turning things around. This will help determine how much financial leeway you have and where to stop the bleeding.
Try: Download a free template for calculating two-year profit and loss statements from Microsoft. Order the audio course "The 10 Cash Flow Rules You Can't Afford to Ignore."

Assess your market

Is your product on target? Is there a growing or shrinking demand for it? The answer to these questions, and a new marketing strategy, will help point you in the right direction as you make changes.
Try: Order marketing plan software from Palo Alto or Template Zone. Download free marketing plan templates from Microsoft Office or a free marketing guide from Morningstar Multimedia. Search for a marketing consultant by bids at eWork Markets and Guru, or by expertise at American Marketing Association.

Hire a turnaround consultant

If you need professional help, hire an independent consultant or turnaround firm.
Try: Read why turnaround consultants make business sense from BNET. Use the checklist from the Turnaround Management Association to know what to look for in a consultant.

Meet with key people

Write a list of the people who need to be brought into the loop. This may include key staff, advisors, directors and your accountant. It also may include certain vendors or your banker.
Try: Get tips from The Turnaround Management Association on communicating with your inner circle during a crisis.

Address staffing issues

Staffing can be one of the toughest parts of turning around a troubled business if it requires laying off or firing people. Conversely, an increase or shift in production could involve new hires.
Try: Get tests to assess employee fit and individual strengths from CPP. Refer to Integrity Center's tips for firing workers, or read Business.com's guide on properly firing an employee. Find a human resources consultant from the Society for Human Resource Management to help with hiring and firing.

If management is the problem, bring in new managers as early as possible in the revitalization process.
When communicating change, whether the message is brief or detailed depends upon what the particular audience needs to know.
Don't add grist to the rumor mill. Communicate change proactively.
Assemble year-to-date and year-to-year comparisons and other data in understandable chart form so you can base your decisions on concrete facts.