Our experience is that businesses need to be able to answer these questions positively and be acting on them;

If you have an immediate requirement for additional funding; do you have a credible or invest able plan and is your business currently viable?

• icebreaker find most business owners don’t understand banks and their role; neither investors or cash points. there is normally a requirement to create a viable business plan in order to attract an investor and manage the banks expectations through that process. we can support defining and delivering a credible plan to keep all stakeholders on board to see the scenario through

do you have 2 months of free cash in the business?

• if you don’t have at least 2 months of cash you are at risk and don’t have much time to respond to a challenge

how do your customers feel?

• you can’t grow a business if customer service is weak
  

Have you got to face up to the brutal facts of your business?

• challenge yourself EVERY business has a few SIMPLE brutal facts to address. our experience is you will need help to get there

are you acting on these brutal facts?

• we find most businesses find it very difficult to come to terms with the brutal facts and don’t make the critical step without external support, and without which many businesses are at risk of becoming flawed.

Is your business profitable and cash predictable?

•  this requires an effective team and is often hidden in the good times but critical capability when the going gets rough

How reliant is your business on the local (UK) market?

• there is often much that can be done to leverage your existing customer base and grow to secure the local market. However most businesses reliant on the UK market are very much at risk of being usurped by emerging business models and products honed in the most challenging environments

Do you have the metrics in place to make informed decisions?

• for example what is the return on your marketing spend and what is the basis of what you are planning to spend on marketing?

How robust and informed is your teams decision making?

• making good decisions is critical which is a function of developing capability and processes independent of the owner being told what to do is demotivating and does not work

Can your business model cope with 60% less or more revenue?

• we find in turnaround scenarios, if you create a business that makes profit at 60% of current sales, it can weather most storms particularly businesses with high fixed costs and assets; manufacturing and automotive

How do you plan your business revenue in uncertain times?

• what works  are you doing to secure revenue, how satisfied are your customers?

Do you have a sales and marketing plan to realistically realise growth?

• most businesses have forgotten how to sell, don’t understand how to use discounting, or to switch approach to sell different product or service types. An easy win

Do you have the technical, operational and transformational skills to drive value creation?

• most businesses are not investing in their teams capability leaving them high and dry; this does not mean simply sending them only on courses but also changing the way you engage and work together, particularly in a technical or fast growth environment

Do you have plans to trade with emerging economies?

• emerging economies will usurp most regionally centric businesses so you should tie in where appropriate the supply and or demand side and part of your plan

Are your vendors up the the challenge ahead and aligned to meet your challenges?

• if not this will stall your ability to grow, and create ongoing management distraction and friction

if you would like to discuss these challenges icebreaker are absolute experts in resourcefully addressing these matters, all us to discuss in confidence