Review

A great start of the year for my Client!  2018 has many new opportunities looming on the horizon, with many new aspect to the existing business:

• New lines of business that could expand client services and breadth of delivery.
• Challenges with revenue sources, including growth, competitive threats, client needs, and focus.
• Personnel challenges requiring fine tuning, good incentives, and fair compensation.
• Exciting goals requiring informed capital decisions on facilities, working capital, and maintenance.

Whose business would not want to be up to the challenge of making the most informed and practical decisions?  Certainly not this company.  Over the past several months, amidst the daily grind, my Client found time to make a plan.

• Prepare a Budget: Check!
• Outline new lines of business, with details on who is served, which services are provided, and when sales would likely occur: Check!

• Assess the competition: Know who they are. Know their customers.  Know their strengths and weaknesses.  Leverage this company on its best qualities.  Check!

• Reviews with people. Know what drives them to perform.  Ask and understand what they like and perceive as incentive to work at their best, with good quality of life choices, and a satisfing payroll each payday.  Check!

• Outline Goals for 2018. Determine capital needs in all areas, and plot out a long term strategy for achievement.  Check!

A Perfect Strategy?  Not necessarily.  But the game plan for the year was well thought out, with time to spare, and a mindset of setting goals ahead of action, actively developing a PLAN  (not just having plans), and being at the starting line when the starting gun sounded!

I would be remiss in not mentioning that my Client reached out a few months back, and started a conversation with Mile Marker Business and Consulting Services, LLC about being ready for 2018.  It would be very easy to avoid planning, or to throw caution to the wind in favor of luck, which happens more often than most of us realize.  But taking the proper steps to be ready in ANY effort put this company in a position to move forward on January 1, and to plan accordingly when things are happening.

What is holding you back from starting this year out right?  Hopefully, nothing!  Then again, have you taken the right steps to be at the starting line and ahead of your competition?  If you aren’t there yet, perhaps a good place to stop, and make that strategy, is at the Mile Marker.  Let’s start a conversation!

David Alexander, President

Mile Marker Business and Consulting Services, LLC

[email protected]

www.milemarkerbusiness.com

513-295-7196

The New Year is just around the corner.  You are ready for the challenge and excitement of a fabulous coming year:

• You are closing out the efforts for the current year in smooth fashion. No problems there!
• Your budget, planning, and preparation are all in order
• You have a handle on all of the goals for 2018.
• The pipeline is full, and the calling efforts are in motion.
• Capital equipment is in place for future success!

It sounds like a planning dream come true; a recipe for successful planning, likely built by a fully capable team of people ready to take on the next task at hand.  Let’s go get that business!!

In many cases, all or many of these pieces are in place.  A prudent business owner or manager has the foresight to create a proper plan for readying the team, placing the tools, and knowing the market. In most cases, however, companies are missing parts of this plan.

It does not mean you are doing things wrong, but it’s tough to have all of the areas of business covered.

• You have a limited number of people doing an unlimited number of things.
• You don’t have the right financing to support the next piece of equipment, or the game plan.
• Your competition is poaching your clients.
• You didn’t have the time to put the budget in place.
• You don’t have a true action plan in place.

It may be alarming to know this exists in your business.  It might also alarm you (or provide a bit of relief) to know that other companies are in the same boat. But, that’s no reason to avoid doing the right thing: DEVELOP THE PLAN.

It’s also great to know that there are resources to help you create solutions to these problems, and when you need help, you should ask.  Asking for help is not a crime, or a sign of weakness.  It’s the right thing to do!

Mile Marker Business and Consulting Services, LLC believes in your company, and believes that, with the right actions, you can have the plan to create a successful 2018.  It’s not too late to create that strategy for success, and to empower your people to achieve great things.  It’s a great time to develop a financing and capital plan that works, and puts you “at the ready” for new opportunities.  Why not start today?

On your journey, a great place to stop and develop a strategy, is the Mile Marker.  Let’s start a conversation, today!

www.milemarkerbusiness.com

[email protected]

513-295-7196

A banker and former colleague of mine commiserated with me the other day, about a dilemma his client is facing:

• Sales and operations are stuck in “lack of progress” mode.
• New ideas go untested, unheeded, and unpursued.
• Suggestions from internal managers are going un-noticed.
• The owner is busy collecting a salary, and less interested in making changes.
• The owner is not showing the energy and zest that once made this client’s business fun.

A bit more background was shared: The owner is 70+.  There is nothing wrong with that, except, that the owner once planned on getting out of the company at the age of 60. Then 2 things happened: The Great Recession, and an heir apparent made a decision to not succeed the owner in pursuit of another career.

The owner stayed on, fought the good fight, and made it through the tough times.  But time has taken a toll, and the owner, as I am told, is tired, out of new ideas, and really needs an advisor or breath of fresh air to help lift the load.  It’s also a time to talk transition, and when understanding the value of the company is a must.  Markets and product appeal move fast these days.  Not knowing where the company is going or what it is worth is a real disadvantage if you are not growing and thriving.

My banker friend is also struggling with the fact that, if operations do not improve, his longtime customer might be asked to go find another bank, which would be one more problem to overcome.  That means the owner’s problem is also affecting other people outside of the company.

So the banker asked me, “What would you do?”.  My answer: “How about introducing me?”.

It is at a time like this that need a new set of eyes to find clarity.  An independent view from someone who likes to help companies succeed, see happiness, see progress, and make informed decisions and a plan that turn out to be great strategies for future success.

It’s also a time when transition should be in discussion, and when understanding the value of the company is a must.  While we believe that we can work forever, all of us have a limited number of days at the helm, or for that matter, on the earth.  That might mean when you are in your 40s or 50s as well.  Value of the enterprise is very important, and having an informed understanding of value puts YOU in a place of strength, and preparation.

I’m awaiting for the next step.  Perhaps a call for an introduction, and some background on where the owner wants to be in the next 1-5 years.  We might discuss the company’s future, and if a sale, or growth opportunity might be something to consider, or simply knowing what the company is worth makes any sense.  This can be a good conversation, if there is a willingness to listen, and to understand that the future is at hand, right now.

When it comes to Developing a Future Strategy, Looking at New Directions and Corporate Transition, or Understanding Enterprise Value, today is good day to start!  On your journey, you can always look back at your past, and look forward to the future.  How will you get there?  A good place to start is the MILE MARKER.  Mile Marker Business and Consulting Services, LLC has great resources and sound acumen for helping companies to be the best prepared and informed that they can be.  Let’s start a conversation about how to make your corporate future bright!

David Alexander, President

Mile Marker Business and Consulting Services, LLC

[email protected]

www.milemarkerbusiness.com

513-295-7196

Imagine yourself in a routine business exercise:

• A potential client is REFERRED BY A GREAT RESOURCE.
• The potential CLIENT EXPRESSES CONCERNS about their own business.
• You have several meetings, the problems become clear: the ISSUES MUST BE ADDRESSED.
• You can provide a VALUABLE SERVICE to the potential client.
• YOU ARE ASKED FOR HELP.
• YOU SPEND AN EXTENSIVE AMOUNT OF TIME developing a proposal, with clear deliverables.
• You DELIVER THE PROPOSAL, on time, as agreed.  It is VERY FAIR.
• The potential client goes silent, and DOES NOTHING.

What went wrong?  Why won’t they respond?  Was it something you said?  Did you not understand what was being asked?  Didn’t the client indicate that they had great interest, and needed your help?

Chances are, the issues are much greater than you realize, and the reasons the potential client did not respond are likely not your problem, but are theirs.  Not responding is often seen as an insult, however, it’s something you cannot control.  If you did your work, and the client was there to get the message, then the next step is up to them.  In the end, the client is going to do what THEY believe to be the best thing for their company, even if that means they do nothing at all.  Or worse yet, they do something odd and avoidable: THEY FAIL!

This situation really just happened to me.  The issues at hand are compelling, deep, and if the information provided by the company owner was legitimate, the financial, legal, and credibility damage that could follow will be horrendous.  I am up to the challenge, and provided a fair and responsible proposal.  But the potential client knows best (or so it seems).

I have done my work: the next step (to fix the problem, as opposed to avoiding it), is up to them.

All businesses have issues.  Some are small.  Some are perpetual and ongoing.  Some are deep and need assistance from an experienced set of eyes.  All need attention.  We can act like they don’t exist, or avoid them, or you can push them off to someone else.  Sometimes, they can be horrendous and can threaten operations to the core.  But make no mistake: the issues and problems don’t just go away.  They need to be addressed, and fixed.

So, what is the takeaway?  Try this:

• Be positive. Hard work does pay off. You won’t win every job, but continued good work will ultimately mean new opportunities.
• Be persistent. Don’t be annoying, and bothersome, but certainly let your audience, clients, or potential clients know you are good at what you do, and that you have good solutions.
• Learn from each lesson. Reassess the situation, and determine if there are things you can do better.  Adapt to a more effective delivery as necessary.  Avoid being a commodity to a would be client.
• Strive Forward with Confidence. Don’t take a setback personally. Worry about what you can control.  In the case above, the problems that don’t go away should bother them more than you.

One more important thing: Thank your Referral Source.  People who think of your business and provide you avenues for new business are often hard to find.  Let them know you appreciate their assistance.

Now, go get that next piece of business!

David Alexander is President of Mile Marker Business and Consulting Services, LLC, a business consulting service whose mission is to help companies and their owners solve the REAL issues and problems, moving aside the things that get in the way of progress.  Whether a company is in difficult times or in growth mode, or in times of financing, operational or organizational needs/assistance, the MILE MARKER is a great place to stop, and prepare for the next steps to success.  Let’s start a conversation!

[email protected]

www.milemarkerbusiness.com

513-295-7196

Mile Marker Business and Consulting Services, LLC has announced a new assessment model for helping companies better understand their financial, operational, organizational, and competitive health.

Corporate Fitness Assessment provides a full review and diagnosis of company operations, with a focus on identifying where companies reflect strength, and where there are “health issues”.

“This is a unique approach in many respects,” said David Alexander, President of Mile Marker. “Very often owners and managers are busy running their companies, with little time or focus on what is really going on IN the company.  Limited time or expertise for addressing the major issues can often lead to overlooking or missing beneficial opportunities.  This can lead to tripping on unanticipated problems, missing the prospects for growth and new sales, and repeating major mistakes, which can be costly.  Much like each of us seeing the doctor for a physical, locating issues early can be of great benefit in avoiding bigger problems down the road.  This is GOOD PREVENTIVE MEDICINE!”

Mile Marker’s Corporate Fitness Assessment focuses on key questions and discussion with a company and its people, a review of past and current operational results as well as projections, a diagnosis of how systems operate and flow, and a dive into the markets and industry to determine where real competition might be lingering, and how you company holds an edge on the market.

“It’s much like working your body up to a high performance level, taking a reading, then diagnosing where things performed.  When the company’s “cholesterol” or “blood pressure” are elevated, a plan is needed for making improvements and avoiding further ailments,” says Alexander.  “Why take the risk of finding out later when it might be too late?  Today is a good day to find out just how healthy your company is”.

Mile Marker Business and Consulting Services, LLC provides a wide array of business support, consulting, and financing services.  The goal is to address real problems, overcome distractions, and provide real solutions that help owners and their companies prosper and grow!

So, ask yourself:

• Do you know how your “company fitness” stacks up to the industry?
• Can you identify the internal issues that are holding your company back?
• Is something preventing your company from taking the next step or gaining the capital you need?

A good place to stop on your journey, and assess the situation, is the Mile Marker!  Let’s start a conversation about a Corporate Fitness Assessment, find out how things are performing, and how to make your company a healthier operation!

For more information, contact David Alexander at [email protected], or call Mile Marker Business and Consulting Services at 513-295-7196.

www.milemarkerbusiness.com