Do you feel that your dream is on the brink? Don’t despair, other companies such as Apple, FedEx, Sprint and IBM have been at this point before as well.
Did you know that Fredrick Smith, creator and owner of FedEx, was so close to losing his company that with a $24,000 bill hanging over his head he took the company’s last $5,000 to Las Vegas (probably not your best best), turned it into $27,000 and saved the company?
Or that in 1997 Steve Jobs and Apple took a $150 million loan from Bill Gates (Microsoft) to keep his company and their products alive?
Epic turnarounds can be made. They’re not easy and they’re not overly common, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. The following is a list of things that can be done to try and turn your failing company around:
1. Bring in new people around you and listen to their suggestions. This is what Sprint did in 2007. They hired a new CEO, who rolled out a new plan, that now has Sprint as the third largest wireless network in the U.S.
2. Cut costs. Have you really looked at every detail of your spending? Cutting costs is never easy. But to be successful as an entrepreneur, you have to be able to make those hard decisions.
3. Get back to the basics. Analyze your company and pinpoint what has changed from the company you envisioned when you started. Maybe you need to focus on your customer service, the quality of your product, or a different marketing strategy. Follow a well-practiced and known-to-be-successful business model.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Steve Jobs wasn’t afraid to take some help from his biggest competitor to save his company. Get help from anyone and everyone you can.
Turning around your company has to start with you. Find that passion you had when you started out and feed it. Revive your entrepreneurial spirit to find the inspiration to make that epic turnaround.
