Blog Post: Is your company ready for the economic recovery?

Recovery…what recovery?  Technically the recession is over now that we have had a quarter of economic growth, but that does not mean we are through with the ugly economy anytime soon.  It does mean there are some things you can do today without investing huge amounts of money to start preparing your company.  Look to the following areas to start positioning your company for growth:

Your Markets

Get out of the office and start visiting with current customers, and while you are at it join your sales people on sales calls.  You will hear firsthand what is going on with your customers and prospects, which will allow you to make adjustments to your marketing mix. 

A quick refresher on marketing mix… it is your products, price, promotion (marketing and advertising), and placement (distribution).  These are the key ingredients to the products and services your company sells.  A miss in any one of these areas can be the difference between success and failure.

Your Leadership

Review your leadership team and assess their knowledge, skills and ability (KSAs).  Are they in the right position for their KSAs?  Did they get to the position they are in just because they have been with you a long time?  Are they effective? Are you effective in letting them lead their part of your business?

This is a difficult task, since we all work very closely with our management teams.  Review your team objectively and get outside help.  This is the one critical success factor in your business growing.

Your Employees

You need your employees to help dig out of the situation the economy has put your company.  They have firsthand knowledge of your customers, processes, and products.  Get them helping by increasing your communication efforts. 

You may think you communicate enough, but you do not.  In difficult times you need to step your communication to make sure your employees understand the situation.  With a void of information your employees will make up scenarios of what is happening and in all cases these scenarios tend to be worse than reality.  Communicate through a variety of media to include regular (monthly) all-company meetings, one-on-one discussions, departmental meetings, emails, bulletin board postings.  Anything all allows you to reinforce your message.

Diversity

Diversity is one of those words that I learned to hate in corporate America because it meant reviewing affirmative action reports from HR and adjusting my hiring decisions based on the makeup of my department or company.  In reality, it means getting the right person in the right job and not hiring in our likeness – this means diversity of thought, background, ethnicity, age, etc. 

Not only does it mean to hire the best person for the job, but include them in decision making and respect their point of view.  Remember… the whole is smarter than the individual.  ALWAYS!

Conclusion

You can start working on your business today, with a little work during this period before the economy takes off.  Use this period to get employees engaged, put the right people in the right positions, provide training where training is needed and learn yourself to delegate and get out of the office.   

To hear more about how you can get your company ready, join us for Prepare for the Recovery executive briefing on November 13 in Lakewood.  For more information, visit www.roundhouseadvisors.com/prepare.htm 

Larry Turner is CEO of Roundhouse Advisors, Inc. and has over 25 years experience growing, starting up, repositioning, and revitalizing organizations.  Roundhouse Advisors is a business consulting practice focused on helping businesses increase enterprise value by managing pain, growth and owner exits.  Larry is a consultant, public speaker, and the author of “Owner Exit Planning: Leave On Your Own Terms”.  For additional information visit www.RoundhouseAdvisors.com