Is your company in need of management turnaround? Look to us for help!

In today's day and age, management turnarounds are in high demand. Companies that are being faced with issues of competition, shrinking markets or frankly, mis-management. We specialize in workouts. Establishing a course of action, then, implementing it to revive and invigorate the once thriving company back to fiscal health. So, what's involved in a management turnaround?

Corporate workouts and corporate restructuring of Supply Solutions Group LLC are usually performed or directed by C. Christopher Kessen the CEO of the company.

Our services are directed primarily at stakeholders, owners, CEO’s and members of boards of companies that are in serious trouble. We have seen interest from prospective investors contemplating the purchase of a troubled company and creditors who hold non or under-performing and un- or under-secured loans.

I can’t emphasize enough that restoring credibility and actual profit are keys to achieving success in most cases, and definitely in all difficult ones. There are some exceptions to this rule. The largest exception is if the company is too far gone to achieve restoration. For example, most creditors are likely to agree to debt restructuring if they believe the company will make the profits necessary to repay the debts, wholly or in part in installments. Or that it will receive an investment with which it will repay its creditors. Before overall debt restructuring is undertaken, vendors, lenders and tax authorities will usually issue forbearances if they really believe what the debtor is telling them. To build such trust, written disclosure is required. However, most business executives purposely shy away from disclosing their company’s weaknesses. What they don’t realize is that honest bad news is a very effective tool in dealing with creditors, because at the base of a good restructuring plan is a consensus of the debtor and its creditors concerning the company’s alternatives.

These alternatives need to be presented properly and important subtleties must be observed in how confidential information is disclosed and in laying out the alternatives, specifically concerning the expected realization by creditors in the event of informal restructuring as compared with Chapter 11 or other legal reorganization methods. In these matters restructuring expertise is essential.

Debt restructuring can be achieved informally or under Chapter 11 by an expert in negotiation of one or more proposals that would as an example, reduce the principal owed or payments previously fixed, and or delay said payments, and or modify or reduce creditors’ security.

Buying time with disappointed and irate creditors and negotiating with them to restructure the debts is only part of the solution. All major problems that have gotten the company into trouble must be cured, if the future is going to be successful. Usually, several problems are present once. Some of these issues mask others, and therefore management is often aware of only some of these problems. Yet all key problems must be diagnosed rapidly, and practical and credible cures must be implemented, or at least conceived, early on in a turnaround.

In the process of establishing a basis on which to engage a management turnaround, we will evaluate a company as to the "success" factor we may have. If we find an environment or a culture that is outside of our comfort level, we will defer the engagement. We have had great success with helping clients who are motivated to engage our process, we will not engage companies that don't have the proper motivation for change.

Our management turnaround service is your asset when you need it!

Often times when a business is in trouble, business owners turn their backs on the inherent problems in their business. As the corporate turnaround specialists, we will never shy away or turn our backs on the problems and issues in your business. We will identify, prioritize, and resolve the issues that are jeopardizing your business. When a management turnaround is needed you want quality, knowledgeable and frank partners to help you through your issues. We can't fix all problems associated with businesses but we have been successful in helping businesses get out of the hole they're in and breathe new life into them as well. A sick business is dangerous on several levels. The issues of a business have a tendency to grow larger and larger as time goes on, if left unresolved. The problems then begin to morph out and begin attacking the healthy parts of the business until the business ultimately fails. Call us before it gets to that point please. The minute you recognize a problem exist, call us. Even if you don't engage us we may be able to give you some advice on what to do, when to do it and who should be involved. It's sad to say, but there have been several businesses that we have been contacted by that we couldn't help. They were to far gone by the time the principles called us. The reality is, we want to help you, not watch the liquidation happen. We know good bankruptcy attorneys, but frankly hate to refer anyone to them. Act sooner rather than later. If you are worried about the cost of hiring a management turnaround specialist, think more in terms of what does it cost not to hire one. Workout consultants are not all created equal. There are many that have limited or no practical experience in the actual art of reviving a company. It is important to remember, experience trumps theory. We have a deep knowledge of corporate workouts. Companies that have at one time or another been vibrant, cash producing businesses that have fallen on hard times. In the vast majority of cases, we have been successful in reviving the businesses through instituting a mandate that begins with correcting the inherent problems inside the business. Generally speaking, the slow failure of a business can be linked to one or two significant events that have spawned many additional problems. Again, in most cases, identification of the original failure is the most critical. Once that primary issue is identified, we can begin to formulate a plan to restructure the business back to health.

How we administer the turnaround.

Moreover some management turnarounds and restructuring require a rapid injection of cash by outside parties, and the rules that guide obtaining debt and equity are different for healthy and for distressed businesses. In fact, the sources of their funding are often quite different. Today in the US, there is a whole industry segment dedicated to financing distressed and under-performing businesses. In recent years more money in this industry has been available than there are eligible debtors asking for funds. At the same time, most companies that are in trouble, that require funding, fail to obtain it. This problem is explained by the fact that for the most part, distressed companies don’t know where to seek funds, investor firms don’t know where to find the smaller distressed companies, and most of the distressed companies fail to make the preparations that are required to make them attractive to investors. Notably, the work involved in making a distressed company attractive to prospective investors, in most cases, requires both restructuring and management turnaround expertise, including specialized research, planning and negotiation skills.

It is not surprising that most companies who get into trouble and need a management turnaround know very little about the nature of turnarounds in general. The problem is compounded by the egos and pride of formerly successful business operators that further prevent them from taking the necessary action such as hiring a corporate turnaround consultant. They do not realize how amenable the business world can be towards a business owner, whose distressed company retains enterprise value despite its bad financial statements. The condition for obtaining such a second chance is the restoration of credibility.

What is a management turnaround?

Turnaround specialists define a corporate turnaround as "a substantial and sustained positive change in the performance of a business". Management turnarounds are also often described as returning to fundamentals and back to what brought you to the game, not one or the other, but both at the same time.

Management turnarounds should not be necessary, but in reality they are. In most companies turnaround actions begin only after the CEO or the board of directors acknowledge and accept two basic facts, first, that the company is in a real danger of failing and secondly, that the problem is significant and small improvements will not solve it.

Once the CEO or the directors accept the fact that the moment of truth has arrived, they empower someone, often on an interim management basis, to take drastic steps necessary to save the company. Most of the time, the first task is to handle the crisis, and because of this, in recent years for many persons the term crisis management has become synonymous with turnaround management. However, in most cases there is more to turning the company around than overcoming the initial crisis.

It has often been said that it takes entrepreneurs to start companies, and that it takes professional managers to run established companies. A turnaround requires both mentalities at the same time. The repeated finding of many studies is that in nearly 80% of cases by the time the company is failing and needs a turnaround, it has already moved far away from sound business practices.

Rules for turning a company around.

The first rule, as simple as it may be, is that no matter what else you do, pay close attention to your customers. You must guarantee that they really receive good product and high quality service. In a turnaround, this requires personal contact with customers by senior management. Another significant rule concerns the character of people who succeed in turning companies around. A management turnaround leader has broad business knowledge (including knowledge of many different industries), an ability to learn very quickly. They are very disciplined in thought process and very disciplined with timely action, and absolute integrity.The management turnaround leader/manager must possess these attributes to an incomparably greater degree than managers in non-turnaround environments.

Typically the management turnaround leader is an individualist. Our company’s turnaround experience has made us realize that turnarounds are much more a work of science than art. Turnarounds are principally based on disciplined and systematic application of planning, controlling, organizing and motivating functions, taking many calculated risks, planning for contingencies and much independent creative thought, and hard work.

This means doing what has to be done, when it has to be done. It also means not showing favoritism, and still doing what has to be done whether it is popular or not. It means doing all of the fundamentals, and letting some other things go. Turnarounds are not big on ritual, but big on business discipline. Additionally, in turnarounds, time is always of the essence.

Management turnaround priorities in the crisis management stage and for considerable time afterwards, are also exceedingly different from priorities involved in operating a profitable business, for reasons which are summarized as follows :

Cash bleeding must be stopped, and positive cash flow must be restored. Similarly, the decline of morale and good will must be terminated. By putting an end to disparaging rumors of future cuts, layoffs, discontinuation of product lines and closing of facilities.

This stabilization must be achieved swiftly at a pace that the troubled company is not used to. Almost nothing can stand in the way of actions that are required to achieve these objectives. It is by reaching them that a distressed company gains some breathing room and time to reposition, restructure and re-engineer itself.

The breathing room and time gained is vital, and the management turnaround leader knows that this is a limited amnesty to be used wisely and that the impetus of changes must continue. The room for making expensive errors and for tolerating a lack of performance is gone. The turnaround is the crowning point.

Not the largest profit but the shortest payback is paramount until basic viability is restored. Objectives with short-term paybacks like days, weeks, or a few months are an absolute priority well past the crisis management stage and almost until the end of the turnaround.

Additionally, during the critical stages of a turnaround, there is no time for formal studies before drastic actions are taken and decisions guiding these actions must be based on a quick and penetrating analysis.

In management turnarounds, business owners approve drastic, unpopular and unpleasant actions, such as firing or furloughing employees, even good ones, or closing facilities. If things continue on their present course, owners will lose their equity and the loans they advanced to the company.

A drastic and rapid turnaround is a business revolution. Can it be anything less than that, in a financial crisis when the company is bleeding money, morale and good will? Can it be anything less than that, when owners' equity is vanishing and there is no time to move at the usual business pace?

Should you undertake a turnaround in your business?

While rapid and drastic repositioning and restructuring of the company, and rapid and drastic changes in the way the company operates and does business will scare most people, such actions are a rational response to many crisis situations. Such actions are required to get the company out of the rut it is currently in. Management turnaround specialists are experts in the evaluation of needs in establishing whether you need us or not. Call us for a free evaluation, 513-546-5409

The business that generates losses will continue to generate losses, as long as the behavior is continued. In effect, in 80% of the cases, corporations get in a rut because of the inability or complacency of management. It is the inability and complacency of management that most often constitutes the rut.

Whatever the reason is for the company following a losing model, once the company is on that path, the choices are slim, face the reality and get out off of that path, or fail.

Our experience shows that operating a losing business model often involves following unconditionally, some strategy which was once a cognizant and acceptable choice, but which with the passage of time is no longer acceptable and due to changes in conditions is no longer viable. The most common reasons for not recognizing that the company is on this path are the following;

The abandonment of habit to manage by numbers cost-engineering, cost accounting and cost-benefit analysis

Lack of intermittent thorough comparison with broadly understood competition

Failure to actively seek improvement

Unwillingness to face reality.

In addition to moving the company off the wrong path, a successful corporate turnaround requires changing the culture of the company to keep the company from sliding back onto the wrong path.

The above requirements of broad business knowledge, specifically of many functions and many industries, very disciplined thinking, and absolute integrity, come into play from the outset of a corporate turnaround. These are paramount in formulating, and boldly asking hard-hitting questions that must be posed in order to determine if the company is merely experiencing some troubles or is failing. Troubled companies are often stuck in the losing model until the right questions are asked and processes are changed.

When the company is really failing, great changes are required, time is of the essence, and the real risk is an opportunity cost. Opportunity costs are not entered into the P&L statement, but are used in decision-making when comparing alternatives. Some people might say that for a sinking company, this opportunity cost does not even exist until the bleeding is stopped.

Are we suggesting that if a company is in decline and bleeding, there is no risk in experimenting on it? Of course not. The very reason for taking turnaround actions is the founded belief by management in the potential for recovery. But this potential must not be wasted. The point we are making is that when a company is failing, bold actions are required and the real issue is which actions to take.

This message is aimed primarily at business owners and board members of companies that are in real trouble, in a losing model or close to it. In such situations, the danger involved in enduring on the existing course is so great that the real question is not if, but what fundamental changes should be made and should they be made by a management turnaround expert or by existing management.

As a rule, if a failing company is to survive, certain drastic changes fundamental to a turnaround have to be made even though they will be regarded by part of the management and staff as rocking the boat. Typically, after a swift assessment of the situation, one of the first actions taken by the administrator leading the turnaround of a distressed company, is to give the subordinate managers, at both senior and middle levels, a clear internal message about the new direction and new rules for the company and about new the pace of getting things done.

Is your business a viable candidate for a corporate turnaround?

Financial information is usually the most revealing concerning the desirability of a turnaround. However, just having an ear to the ground can also alert you to the need for a turnaround. So ask yourself, Does your company show the following indications of trouble and decline?

What are the critical financial problems that indicate the need for a management turnaround:

The company has been reporting significant losses for some time and the bleeding continues

Paying suppliers is a problem

Paying taxes and other passive obligations is a problem

Important jobs generate a loss

Lenders and suppliers are not giving the company the breathing room they used to and they indicate that their confidence is shaken.

Usually one of these problems is a sufficient indication that drastic corporate turnaround action is desirable.

Critical non-financial symptoms that indicate the need for turnaround :

Good clients are leaving the company

Clients complain their calls aren't being returned

A number of employees are telling each other or management or clients or suppliers, that they do not feel they are being led

A number of good employees are leaving

Management is no longer working as a team.

Usually two or more of such symptoms plus some confirmation through financial data are a sufficient indication that drastic corporate turnaround action is needed.

Other valid reasons for drastic changes: Without any of above problems or symptoms being present, there may be other reasons why as an owner or company director you may realize that the company is in danger of failure unless the course is drastically reversed. An example would be when your company is profitable, but, is very dependent on a few large clients and there are good reasons to expect they will drastically reduce the business they give you in the near future.

But, as mentioned above, it is not enough that a management turnaround is desirable. It must also be realistic.

When is a corporate turnaround practical?

Circumstances and conditions are such that a management turnaround is realistically expected to succeed, based on a viable corporate turnaround concept, and the corporate turnaround is an attractive option compared to other strategic options available.

The corporate turnaround plan, strategic in nature, addresses the repositioning and the reorganization of the company. The plan is usually brief because, as a rule, it has to be created rapidly.

In addition to the strategic plan, a catalog of actions and projects that will be implemented as part of the turnaround process must be created and updated continuously. Typically this catalog comprises further reorganization and re-engineering activities. Additional actions and projects such as training of staff and management, preventive maintenance, error-proofing various activities including quality assurance, advertising, change in methods of distribution, sales promotions, and other measures, which individually are often tactical in nature but collectively are of primary strategic importance.

Together, the strategic plan for the turnaround and the catalog of other turnaround actions and projects form the turnaround concept.

Usually the turnaround leader must provide the heart of the strategic plan himself, but experience shows that when properly motivated, employees of various position can often provide very valuable ideas, particularly for the reorganization of operations.

It should be noted that it takes broad business knowledge, sharp analysis, familiarity, and a creative mind to generate a good management turnaround plan. It takes these skills to know what is a viable and realistic plan and to know what priorities to follow in order to achieve a successful management turnaround.

Also, keep in mind that a turnaround is rarely easy. It takes time, though typically less time than it took to run the company down, and that a management turnaround is always hard work for management. Therefore, before a turnaround is undertaken, other alternatives should be considered.

Typically, these alternatives are the sale of the company or some of its assets or a liquidation, not at desperation prices. Occasionally these alternatives are reasonably attractive, for example if there is a targeted buyer to whom the distressed company or some of its assets represent a greater economic value than to the general marketplace.

When a company is in trouble and there are no other attractive options, management turnaround actions should be taken, assuming the prospects for turnaround are reasonable.

A workable plan.

The prospects for management turnaround are regarded as realistic and viable when there is a viable or realistic plan for it.

No matter what the accumulated losses, the on-going losses, or the loss of customers or valuable employees, no matter how large the problems of the company, no matter what the headaches and the disappointments, it is not too late to cure the situation, as long as there is a realistic, well thought-out expectation for success.

There must be a realistic, well thought-out expectation that if management takes certain actions, the following can and will happen :

Certain substantial positive results will be attained by the company; and there is a realistic expectation that measurable improvements will be made in efficiency and or sales and or profitability swiftly;

Parties whose support is essential to the success of the company will provide that support. Parties such as lenders, key suppliers, employees, unions, customers, existing and prospective shareholders and other investors, and possibly some branches of government;

With that support, and other rationally-expected events, operating and financial viability will be restored.

A realistic plan for achieving support of these parties constitutes a indispensable element of any viable management turnaround concept.

Our experience tells us that when management is creative and flexible and works to obtain support of third parties on a basis that is attractive to both sides of the transaction, many intelligent new provisions are possible with practically all parties. As with lenders, minor suppliers, with shareholders, with unions and even with governments. It should be remembered that it is usually easier to obtain such support in stages. Remember that determination and success breed respect, compassion and support, and that having the support of some parties makes the support of the others easier to obtain. Such arrangements contribute enormously to the management turnaround process.

When is a management turnaround complete?

In a non-seasonal business, the requirement of viability on a sustained basis requires at least two sequential quarters of positive financial results from ongoing operations plus a reasonable balance sheet and a rock-hard management.

The new management has to be solid enough that the errors and omissions that led the company into trouble are unlikely to be repeated while this group is in charge. Not all corporate turnaround specialists include the formation of management that succeeds them as part of their package of turnaround services. We do, because we feel that even if financial results are positive, a sustained basis is not necessarily achieved until the successor management team had successfully taken over responsibilities from the turnaround team.

For this reason our services include the formation of the successor management team. Furthermore, we work with the new management for several months after the company has returned to workable operation in order to make sure the new team is on the right path.

This new team may include the most qualified amongst your present staff, but after the corporate turnaround they will operate in a very different way from how things were done when the company got into trouble. The new team will continue the processes of questioning, evaluating, and energetic attitude of the management turnaround team.

Management Required!

A management turnaround requires not only different priorities and methods, but also different attitudes, aptitudes and skills than those that are required to run a stable and profitable business.

Attitudes required. As mentioned previously, a real management turnaround is a business revolution, one without real bloodshed, but a revolution nevertheless. And as any successful revolution, a management turnaround requires leadership with a habit of rigorous thinking and penetrating analysis. A keen eye for opportunities is necessary along with courage and sustained willingness to fight for one's cause. There are other attitudes and aptitudes detailed below, including a can-do spirit that is both visionary and practical at the same time These attitudes and aptitudes are in short supply in most companies that are in distress, and an early objective of a turnaround is to instill in the employees and in outside parties a founded belief that the company will succeed.

But more than these attitudes and aptitudes are needed. Turnarounds require a greater technical management knowledge, broader experience, higher energy, better interviewing and research skills, more questioning minds and better negotiating skills, than business-as-usual management.

A successful management turnaround requires a leader who sees opportunity where others do not. A leader who is able to make decisions quickly based on incisive, a leader who is not afraid to innovate, who, in a crisis situation, has the drive to put in 70 – 80 hours of work a week and sometimes more, for a long stretch of time. It is worth repeating that a corporate turnaround leader is prepared not only to work for the company, but to fight for it.

These qualifications are essential because typically in a turnaround you have to make certain cuts, a corporate surgery, to keep the rest of the body alive, and you also have to reposition and reorganize the company, and you have to do this in a very tough environment.

Clearly, this is an environment that most managers are totally unfamiliar with. In most cases, this is the reason for calling upon a specialist to solve the problem. If the above list of critical financial problems and other critical symptoms describes your company's situation, or if your company is in danger of failing or is otherwise in serious trouble, if you want to achieve a corporate recovery, and if you feel that your present management does not have the necessary skills, attitude, drive and know-how, then you should consider hiring outside management turnaround services. Call us today, 513-546-5409

How do our services work and what do they cost?

There are turnaround specialists available from specialized consulting firms who will perform some turnaround services for fees that, in a year, total much less than these amounts, but these are part time and temporary services. They have to be at hourly rates of hundreds of dollars. These services usually focus on preparation of the strategic plan and initial crisis management, and sometimes include corporate surgery.

Without criticizing the importance of this work in any way, it should be noted that it forms only part of the corporate turnaround process that is required to generate a substantial and sustained positive change in the performance of the business. This practical definition of turnaround signifies that the company must not only be saved in the short run, but must also be repositioned and reorganized for the future so that its operation becomes worthwhile for its owners for years to come.

Obviously, the firms, which provide the limited services of initial planning and crisis management, even if they also provide follow-up advice cannot take responsibility for a sustained recovery.

This accountability can only be taken on a hands-on basis, and on the basis of keeping this responsibility until a sustained recovery is demonstrated. This is exactly the service that Supply Solutions Group is offering. If you think you need a management turnaround specialist, call us today! 513-546-5409

How we work.

In addition, if the client and Supply Solutions Group LLC can agree on an action plan and a fair results-based fee, we would do this work without your company having to spend large sums on turnaround fees before results are achieved. Naturally, we would accept to work on that basis only if we have good reasons to believe that our efforts for the client company will be successful. Therefore, we need to investigate the situation for ourselves. And yes, we expect to earn very good compensation when we achieve the results. Therefore, your company cannot be very small. And yes, we will need a written contract, to protect our investment in your company.

Simply put, if your company needs a management turnaround expert, you have found one, that is not only very skilled at doing turnarounds, but honestly offers the best terms of payment in the industry. We assume a very large portion of the risk in our compensation by delaying the lions share of the payment for services until success has been shown. That shows just how confident we are in our abilities to help you and your business.

3 Step Implementation.

2. implementation of the management turnaround concept, including crisis management, corporate surgery, and the repositioning and reorganization of the company, to make it viable on a sustained basis,

3. forming the successor management team, and working with it for some months after the company has returned to viable operation, to make sure the company stays on the right track.

How much repositioning and reorganization is offered? We believe that the only way to make a company viable on an ongoing basis is to establish that it is in a generally profitable market, and to bring all key activities of the company including its management system and its reporting information system, up to parity with the practices of well-run companies in similar business areas. That means additional benchmarking and improvements going beyond basic recovery. This work is included in our complete package of services.

How long will the turnaround take? Once the danger is past, viability is reestablished and the successor team is in charge, you will not need me anymore. I will then move on to my next turnaround project. How long will we work for you? It depends, but probably in the order of 1 to 2 years, which is how long it typically takes for a turnaround to be completed. However, the intensity, work hours, of our intervention often falls off considerably once the crisis management stage is passed.

If you are interested in receiving the credentials of our founder, please call or fill in the “request additional information” form at the bottom of this page and they will be forwarded to you quickly.

Generally, a troubled company is usually surrounded by skeptics and pessimists. Our offer as independent, experienced, high-energy managers, to invest significant time for the period of time necessary to complete a management turnaround, for a predominantly results-based fee, would be a very strong vote of confidence for such a company.

We are confident that shareholders will want to know why we are willing to invest so much time in the failing company. They will be curious to know what potential we see and why we believe in that company. We will use this opportunity to sell your prospects for turnaround, and to co-op the crucial support you need. If Supply Solutions Group LLC., becomes convinced that the your company's prospects for recovery are good, and if we decide to let our fortunes ride with your company, then on that basis, supported by data and analysis, we should be able to instill confidence in your creditors, suppliers, employees, customers, and your board of directors.

Call us today! 513-546-5409 corporate turnaround