Are You Gambling With Your Business?
Over a year ago, a client of mine sold a very successful business. It had been in operation for 14 years. It was profitable and provided the prior owners with a nice lifestyle. Within a year, the new owner is “on the ropes”. Now some of you may blame the economy. I know differently because I know what really happened. He didn’t take care of customer service issues with current customers and he didn’t go out and bring in new customers. And even when he was gently informed of this by several clients and business owners (me included), he blamed others for the problems. The prior owners were constantly marketing and they really weren’t what I’d call experts at it. But they stayed in front of their customers and made new prospect calls every week. The new owner was “overwhelmed” and spent too much time micro-managing employees and being overly concerned about equipment. (If his business was busting at the seams, then he should be concerned with tinkering with the equipment for more e