Where Do We Go From Here? (Published in 2009)
By John Daley, The Daley Group, LLCLast year the world changed for most business leaders. Remember how good a president and manager you were and how successful you seemed to be?
Up until several months ago we were all playing a game, “basketball” if you will. We knew the rules and had the skills to win. We were cruising towards a wonderful retirement.
Then the world suddenly changed. As we started to shake off the shock and got our bearings, we realized we were not on a basketball court anymore but rather on a slab of ice.
The new game was called “hockey”. The playing field was suddenly different and we didn’t quite get the rules. Now we had to put on helmets and elbow pads and veer into the “corners” of the business world. We started to get banged up and bruised up and things got a whole lot tougher if not nearly impossible.
Many of us had our lines of credit cut or closed, the ones you need to survive the lean times. Plus the bank still wanted you to pay your bills.
Sales decreased by some 40 to 60 per cent. You did your best with retained earnings, savings and loans from family members to keep afloat. You cut expenses to the bone yet wondered if your taxes and costs were still going to rise.
Those of us in the last third of our lives realized we suddenly had to learn a new sport. In this game we found out we no longer had the right players, skills or resources to win. Now it was time to transform the team to compete in a new arena.
Battered and beaten we must now ask ourselves, so what are our options?
Do nothing and adopt a wait and see attitude. You could stay the course, do nothing new, and hope the game changes back to basketball. Risky and unlikely for the foreseeable future, but it could happen.
Re-tool and start over. Are you ready to learn “hockey” and get comfortable on a hockey rink? Can you learn the skills, source and/or retain talent for the new game? It may take up to 5 to 10 years to get back to where you were one to two years ago. If you are in your fifties or sixties is this how you want to spend the next five to ten years of your life? Perhaps this could make you feel young again.
Sell your company. Sell NOW? You could take the next 12 to 18 months to position your team on the new field, with the new rules and get maximum value for your company. Securing the right help could make it happen.
Hire a professional manager. You could still plan on playing golf, traveling and/or spending more time with your family. Putting the right coach and management team in place that knows how the new game is played, is a real possibility. Once you have the players onboard you might even consider an ESOP and create a long-term sale process where both you and your employees emerge victorious.
Consider these possibilities. Time, money, talent and the marketplace are your empowering variables. I believe the right answer is to pick one and stick to it.
John Daley is CEO of the Daley Group, LLC in Chesterfield, MO. The Daley Group, LLC is a highly valued resource focusing on sourcing capital, M&A and business growth for middle market companies. They study M&A and growth challenges and then identify, implement and measure solutions for their clients. For additional information call 636-299-0176 or email coachdaley@daleygroup.com.
Up until several months ago we were all playing a game, “basketball” if you will. We knew the rules and had the skills to win. We were cruising towards a wonderful retirement.
Then the world suddenly changed. As we started to shake off the shock and got our bearings, we realized we were not on a basketball court anymore but rather on a slab of ice.
The new game was called “hockey”. The playing field was suddenly different and we didn’t quite get the rules. Now we had to put on helmets and elbow pads and veer into the “corners” of the business world. We started to get banged up and bruised up and things got a whole lot tougher if not nearly impossible.
Many of us had our lines of credit cut or closed, the ones you need to survive the lean times. Plus the bank still wanted you to pay your bills.
Sales decreased by some 40 to 60 per cent. You did your best with retained earnings, savings and loans from family members to keep afloat. You cut expenses to the bone yet wondered if your taxes and costs were still going to rise.
Those of us in the last third of our lives realized we suddenly had to learn a new sport. In this game we found out we no longer had the right players, skills or resources to win. Now it was time to transform the team to compete in a new arena.
Battered and beaten we must now ask ourselves, so what are our options?
Do nothing and adopt a wait and see attitude. You could stay the course, do nothing new, and hope the game changes back to basketball. Risky and unlikely for the foreseeable future, but it could happen.
Re-tool and start over. Are you ready to learn “hockey” and get comfortable on a hockey rink? Can you learn the skills, source and/or retain talent for the new game? It may take up to 5 to 10 years to get back to where you were one to two years ago. If you are in your fifties or sixties is this how you want to spend the next five to ten years of your life? Perhaps this could make you feel young again.
Sell your company. Sell NOW? You could take the next 12 to 18 months to position your team on the new field, with the new rules and get maximum value for your company. Securing the right help could make it happen.
Hire a professional manager. You could still plan on playing golf, traveling and/or spending more time with your family. Putting the right coach and management team in place that knows how the new game is played, is a real possibility. Once you have the players onboard you might even consider an ESOP and create a long-term sale process where both you and your employees emerge victorious.
Consider these possibilities. Time, money, talent and the marketplace are your empowering variables. I believe the right answer is to pick one and stick to it.
John Daley is CEO of the Daley Group, LLC in Chesterfield, MO. The Daley Group, LLC is a highly valued resource focusing on sourcing capital, M&A and business growth for middle market companies. They study M&A and growth challenges and then identify, implement and measure solutions for their clients. For additional information call 636-299-0176 or email coachdaley@daleygroup.com.
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