Accelerating Start to Finish: Align 7 Forces for Business Success

By Paul Menig

Business Accelerants™ CEO Paul Menig explains the 7 Forces that are applicable to setting strategy for all companies, large and small. He provides relevant stories on their application and how to scale the effort to the size of your company. As the new Star Wars series continues, may the forces be with you, aligned, and accelerate

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kitsap Publishing
• Release date: May 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781942661887

Book preview

Accelerating Start to Finish

Paul Menig

Accelerating Start To Finish

First edition, published 2018

By Paul Menig

Cover design by Nick Johnson

Copyright © 2018, Paul Menig

Paperback Edition ISBN-13: 978-1-942661-82-5

eBook Edition ISBN-13: 978-1-942661-88-7

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties concerning the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and expressly disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher and author were aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use or the use of any trade name is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher.

Published by Kitsap Publishing

P.O. Box 572

Poulsbo, WA 98370

www.KitsapPublishing.com

To: My Wife, My Life

My wife has been my ultimate supporter for over 40 years, having met in high school. Yes, she is my high school sweetheart. She has spent her life caring more for others than for herself. She has pushed me, prodded me, corrected me, pulled me back to reality, and stressed the importance of family and people when I had strayed in the way I was living my and our values. I can truthfully say, without her, I would not be the man I am today.

When I left the corporate world of General Electric, Eaton and Daimler, to start my next career as a consultant, she was instrumental in helping me to handle the ups and downs of starting a business and becoming more of a salesman than I had ever been before. She constantly reminds me of the value I have to clients and to myself. She is both active and constructive in her comments, even when telling me how much better I look when I stand tall and throw back my shoulders. Being much more people oriented than me, she has repeatedly helped me assess situations from the people perspective, helping me get out of my head and into the heart.

I know that even today, I can continue to improve on everything. But most importantly, I can continue to improve in the ways I show her my love for all she has done and all that she is. Susan is my wife, my best friend, and more. With ever-growing love and admiration, and ever thankful for her being with me — she is my life.

Testimonials

In Accelerating Start to Finish, Paul Menig shines light on the seven forces that can either work against your business or can be harnessed for sustained success. Menig offers no quick fixes for common business woes, but he does provide a reliable framework for achieving profitable growth. Any leadership team willing to do the hard work of self-evaluation and strategic planning around these seven forces will surely reap the rewards. Read this book with a willingness to execute each chapter’s action items, and you’ll be a force to be reckoned with.

Andy Tobin, Owner/General Manager Thermal Modification Technologies

Business is complex from start to finish—the longer you stay in business the more complex it grows! Paul Menig is a seasoned and successful veteran of Fortune 500 companies General Electric, Eaton and Daimler. He understands business, people, and process! Accelerating Start to Finish is a refreshing, valuable playbook with lots of insights that will help business owners and corporate executives take their game plan to the next level of success! What makes this book invaluable are the no-nonsense, show-stopping questions Paul challenges readers to answer—and if they can’t answer them or won’t do the research, he cautions them they are putting their business at risk!

Jim Horan, President, The One Page Business Plan Company

This book is packed with focused tasks that will, without question, help any business leader in any environment increase the probability of success. I learned valuable insights from every chapter through the engaging, provocative questions Paul asks and the actions he recommends. I can think of countless types of military operations where the applications of the lessons in this book would apply. Well done Paul.

Jeffrey W. Foley, Brigadier General (US Army, retired),

Author of Rules and Tools for Leaders (2013)

Paul Menig is an expert in business growth. Moreover, he’s an expert in helping businesses keep more money by creating a thoughtful and strategic plan built around common sense objectives. Paul’s vast experience in purposeful planning is exactly what’s needed for businesses and organizations of all sizes and industries. While everyone would agree that strategic business planning is important, Paul actually lays out an outline to assure that the work and implementation get done. Each chapter concludes with a Do Now section to help the reader take the most critical concepts and put them into action. Additionally, his ideas on leveraging technology to help leverage growth and profitability are exciting. There are a lot of business books in the market. Paul’s stands out based on his no-nonsense, straightforward style, matched with his high level of expertise, experience, and 21st century toolkit. I highly recommend this book to any business leader and executive.

Dan Weedin, Author, Unleashed Leadership

Contents

To: My Wife, My Life

Testimonials

Introduction

1

Irresistible Force Meets Immovable Object—Failure Results

Large Corporations Are Not Immune1

Small Businesses Going Out3

Angel Investor Or Devil5

Crowdfunding Lemmings8

Y10

Chapter Summary 13

2

Pressure to Plan

Purposeful Planning14

We’ve Got A Stake In This17

Investors17

Suppliers19

Analysts19

Employees20

Customers20

Boards20

YOU21

We DID It!21

7 Forces Working Against You 23

Chapter Summary 26

3

Technology Forces Everything to Change

What Is Technology Doing For Everyone?28

Suppliers Should Be Pushing You31

Factory Fun Time 33

Product Development Is Driven By Technology35

Customers May Know More than You 37

Office Automation Is Intelligent Technology 39

Finance Is Finding The Money 41

People Technology For Sales And Marketing 43

Chapter Summary 46

4

Centrifugal Force Holding You Back—

Market Constraints and Government

What Non-Governmental Standards Cramp Your Style?48

Who’s Watching and Going to Tell on You?49

Is Your Trade Association Helping or Hurting? 51

How Is The Government Getting In Your Way?53

Warning, Your Label is Inadequate55

Who Wants To Pay More Tax?58

What Government Incentives Can You Use?59

Chapter Summary60

5

Competition Biting You All Over

Who Are Your Direct Competitors Today?62

Who Are Your Indirect Competitors,

including The Do nothing Competitor?63

What Drives Your Competitors?64

Do Your Competitors Offer Better Value?65

Can You Mark Your Competitors As Benchwarmers?67

What Data Do You Have To Inform Your Decisions?68

Where’s The Guppy That Will Eventually Eat You? 69

Chapter Summary 70

6

Magnetic Attraction—

Sales and Marketing Channels

Value Is in the Eye Of The End Customer and Sales Channels72

What’s The Pain?74

Salute The Solutions76

I Can’t Get It 78

How Much Did You Say? 80

Making The Customer Cock His Or Her Head 82

G2 Is Not A New Phone 84

Chapter Summary87

7

Gravity Holding You Down—

Supply Chain and Outsourcing

Don’t Do That89

One Stop Shop 91

Judge And Jury93

Altered States96

SUPSAT 98

The 8D Universe100

Get It Out Of Here102

Chapter Summary 104

8

Force of Nature—Risk of Disruption

Weather Or Not106

We Have No . . .109

Who Died And Made You Boss?112

I’d Like to Recall That114

That’s Patently Obvious117

What Kind Of Garment Is A Lawsuit?119

Scandalous120

Chapter Summary122

9

Overcoming Internal Friction:

People, Product, and Processes

Your Mission—7 Elements Of Culture124

Rubbing Bodies The Wrong Way128

Astrological Signs129

Signs of the Zodiac130

It’s Always Late And Over Budget134

The Never Ending Cost Battle 138

Proceed To The Exit 141

Cash Is Not Just King, It’s The Whole Deck Of Cards143

Payback is Tough 145

Chapter Summary 147

10

Size Matters to Your Force

Not So Common Sense148

The Private One 153

The Squad Sergeant 154

The Company Captain 155

The Battalion Colonel 156

The Two Star General 158

One And Done159

Chapter Summary 164

Conclusion:

Align the Forces and Follow the Leaders

A. Determine your .A in 167

B. Create your vision for .B in 168

C. Answer the ?_ representing how 168

D. Deliver on the promises168

Introduction

Businesses large and small fail. It’s appalling. Just read the financial news over a week and you’ll see more than a dozen companies in serious financial difficulty, attacked by activist investors for poor management, or declaring bankruptcy. Small businesses fail at an astonishing rate. Only 60 percent of companies survive the first 5 years. That means 40 percent have failed in a short period of time. Less than 25 percent of small companies will survive 15 or more years.

For those entrepreneurs looking to start a new growth company, the situation is worse. Angel and venture capital investors that support them expect a large number to fail. Half the angel investments are a loss that happens in the first couple of years. 40 percent of the companies return their money or provide a modest return. Only 1 in 10 provides a return of 10-30 times their investment that they seek to offset their losses and make it big.

While there are many reasons business fail, it comes down to one of two things:

The company did a poor job of planning;

They did a poor job of executing the plan.

Even in the largest companies, with scores of intelligent people, they make mistakes. They fail to consider what competitors will do; they don’t understand their customer; they price things such that their distribution channel cannot make enough money; they don’t understand what the government rules are that affect them or their customer.

There are 7 areas that need to be explored to put together a well-informed plan. This book examines each of those areas in detail and provides guidance to you in preparing your plan. Regardless if you are a sole entrepreneur, a company of under a hundred people, or one that has over a thousand employees, there are specific steps you can take to prepare a plan. Further, the guidance shows you how more successful and larger companies do their plan so that you can emulate them and grow confidently and profitably.

Here are 7 benefits of documenting the type of plan discussed:

Understand your current and developing, disruptive competition

Prioritize what needs to be done and where to invest time, resources, and money

Capitalize on trends outside your company

Assess the shifting sands that create risk

Align the thoughts, goals, and actions of everyone

Execute flawlessly and know you are making progress

Obtain funding from investors, shareholders, and banks

The goal is to accelerate the profitable growth of your business from the very start of the company until the chosen finish. The finish could be an initial public offering of stock, or the sale of your private company as you grow, or when you choose to retire. Getting more money from your business and more time for your life will make you successful in the long term. A good plan, well executed, will assure your success start to finish.

Paul Menig, Portland, OR, January 2018

1

Irresistible Force Meets Immovable Object—Failure Results

Large Corporations Are Not Immune

The business landscape is littered with large corporations that lost their way and went bankrupt. If not bankrupt, they were acquired by another company while they were knocked down. Sometimes, they’ve been rescued by a white knight rather than facing the enigma of bankruptcy protection. How can it be that large corporations with thousands of employees can find themselves without profits, declining market shares, aging products, and disengaged people? They should have the highest paid, brightest people on the planet to assure their success and growth.

Various sources for information on bankruptcy show alarming rates of bankruptcy.

Fig.: Source: Trading Economics - max. data history

(tradingeconomics.com/united-states/bankruptcies).

Fig.: Source: Trading Economics - 5 year data history

(tradingeconomics.com/united-states/bankruptcies).

Just looking at 2011-2017, it shows that the economy has certainly been improving, but it shows something like 100,000 bankruptcies per year! Another source works to eliminate counts of personal bankruptcies. In just the two weeks from October 18-31, 2016 over 300 companies filed for protection according to records kept by Business Bankruptcies (www.BusinessBankruptcies.com) by cleansing the federal database of PACER, Public Access to Court Electronic Records (www.pacer.gov). That suggests nearly 8,000 companies per year are going out of business through bankruptcy protection.

Within the Portland, OR metro area, here are some names and logos that have disappeared from the media landscape or have appeared in the media due to difficulties.

All above logos are trademarks of their respective companies.

Please refer to the trademark section on the copyright page of this book.

Do Now

Name the large corporations you are familiar with, possibly in your home state, that have gone out of business in the last 5 years

Small Businesses Going Out

Small businesses are another story. The Small Business Administration, SBA, defines a small business in a variety of ways for the purpose of accessing Federal small business program assistance. (bit.do/menig020)

Independently owned and operated

Not dominant in its field of operation

Definition varies from industry to industry

Sometimes defined by the number of employees. Could be as high as 1,500.

Sometimes defined by average annual receipts. Could be as high as $38.5 million.

Gardner defines small as having less than 100 employees and less than $50 million in sales. Medium enterprises then have 100 to 999 employees and $50 million to $1 billion in annual revenue. The European Union, as is often the case, has also put definitions into law. EU recommendation 2003/361 defines it this way. (http://bit.do/menig012)

No matter what definition you use, there is a fairly large number of companies that qualify as small businesses. SBA puts the number at just under 28 million in 2010. Significantly, over 75% are single person companies. That leaves something near 6 million small businesses with employees. (bit.do/menig013)

These companies do not do well either. It’s the American ideal to own your own