I need to think out loud with someone - but I don’t know who? Someone who isn’t connected to me, someone who isn’t trying to sell me something, someone who can be objective to the noise and politics, someone who has been there, someone that has sat at an executive table - has a brain in their head and can chew the fat on this stuff out loud.
-
I’ve inherited a mess - and I think I am clear on what I need to do, but I’d love to talk it through with someone who doesn’t work for the company - where I am not going to have to sign up to loads of shit I don’t need, who can listen to me and objectively flag any holes so I can address them in private before I commit to a direction publicly.
-
I am the owner. I’ve been doing this so long, I’m tired and I can’t see the way through. I know I am emotionally attached to this - it’s my bread and butter, literally. I am nervous about asking for external advice, but I am not sure I have the right person around me to talk this through with. If there was someone who has worked with owners and understands the emotional, financial and practical attachments - along with some business experience, and it’s not a bloody consultant telling me to adapt their framework because it’s an off the shelf offer they have for all their clients - that would be great.
-
Everyone has skin in your game.
You need to talk to someone but everyone you know has skin in the game. A consultant is going to use their framework. An exec coach will work on your skills as a leader. A mentor will tell you what worked for them ten years ago. Appointed independent advisors are recommended by the board - so not really independent. Your mates and family know YOU - not your business.
We’ve been conditioned to look outside for answers: ‘Buy the course’. ‘Hire the coach/consultant’. ‘Get the new system’. ‘Follow the 5-step plan’.
What I’m saying is the answer - or the solution - isn’t external. It’s almost always internal - in your business or yourself.
In order to fix a business, you need to think about what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ve got to play with. You need to think about who you are and the people around you. You need to think about what you stand for, what you are selling, your customers, your employees. You need to think about what you need to do, to return the company to a position of ‘thrive’, not ‘survive’. Trust me - your employees will be very grateful.
You can tell me the narrative in our meeting - the one you give to the board. But then I’m going to ask you about internal structure, processes, systems, budgets, targets, messaging, customer churn - what’s missing.
I’ve led eight acquisitions. Every one of them meant inheriting someone else’s business, people, systems and story - and often a founder who’d poured their life into it. So I understand both sides: taking on someone else’s mess, and how hard it is to let anyone near your own.
You can’t play the game from an empty tank. It’s like embarking on a seven-hour car journey with 1/4 tank of petrol, no money and phone battery on 12% - that’s going to be a tough journey. So fitting your own oxygen mask first becomes imperative.
But if you accept you’ve only got a quarter of a tank and no money, is there another route?
One of my childhood memories was making clothes for my Sindy dolls from kitchen paper because we couldn’t afford the proper ones. That’s not a sob story - I am sharing because from an early age, I have always had the ability to find a way with what I’ve got. My 30 years in work just honed those skills - but they were always there.
Enough is plenty.
The skills are the same: Here’s what we’ve got. Here’s where we want to get to. How do we get there with what we have?
Sometimes it’s you.
The easy option is to keep cutting costs, reducing headcount, cutting product quality, introducing AI customer support because it saves on money and operational efficiency. But eventually the company gets to a stage where the barrel is empty.
I genuinely believe a lot of businesses are going to fail as a result of this.
Going internal and looking at the pile of ashes on the floor and thinking ‘where the hell do we go from here’ is not easy and it’s not for the faint-hearted. It means admitting something might be broken - and that’s a hard thing to do on your own. But really knowing what you’ve got - whether that's yourself and/ or the business - gives you a position of strength to create from.
The answer is there. It’s usually internal. And sometimes, it’s you.
You need to start with an honest look at your own position. Are you going to be around to see this through - or do you want sticking plasters to get through your tenure? I can help with both - but they both require honesty.
-
So whether you have inherited a mess, you’re exhausted and can’t see a way through, or you just need to think out loud - you don’t need to carry it on your own any more. Nobody else needs to know. And we can have a bit of craic along the way.