What are the main reasons businesses fail?
In essence, it’s usually mistakes made by management in the past and/or reactive behaviour rather than proactively pushing the business forward no matter how difficult the market.
There is always room for growth in a business if one is on top of the game. Also, I believe one can constantly shape the market and enable a business to prosper.
What do you typically do when you are called in to save a company?
I first listen to all stakeholders (employees, board members, shareholders, lenders, unions and so on), then I digest all the information. Thereafter, I try to summarise the three key points that I think need to change and start unpacking it in more detail (socialising it). My task is mainly stakeholder management.
There must be times when nothing will save the business. What do you do then?
I'm not sure if that is really true. There is always a core part of the business that is able to survive or that can be sold to someone else. If there is really nothing that can be saved, including different parts of the business, then I recommend management communicates transparently and winds the business down.
How did you end up doing this work?
It was pure coincidence. When I was young, I wanted to become a medical doctor. After an internship in a hospital’s emergency room, I knew it was not for me. I then pursued a career in marketing and was, by chance, given the opportunity to work on a restructuring/turnaround project, and was completely fascinated by it.
This was 25 years ago. Just recently, I realised that the common denominator in the professions of a medical doctor, marketeer and turnaround professional is people. And this is exactly what restructuring and turnaround is about, managing people through a difficult time.
What do you think makes you good at this job?
I’m very dedicated and committed to what I do, and when I work on a project, I always put the company and its people first.
My colleagues tell me I can put my ego aside and act neutral by solely focusing on the work based on facts. However, by doing that, one can easily come across as unemotional. With me, it is different in that I’m emotionally connected to the people and business.
What would people find surprising about what you do?
Restructuring and turnaround experts are usually perceived as cost-cutters, retrenchment experts and number crunchers, and that does form part of the job.
Given my experience, I am very growth-focused in what I do. It does not make sense to me to restructure/turn around a business without having a clear growth path. So I often speak about growth and the future, and this is mostly unexpected for the people who find themselves in such a stressful situation.
What is the best career advice you have received?
Make yourself redundant by empowering the people around you, through enabling them over time to do your job better than you can. That resonates 100% with me. It has changed my thinking and has hopefully made me a better leader. It has certainly helped to successfully turn around the companies I have worked for.
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