Turnaround Business and About Me

My catch phrase is "Turning Opportunities into Profits". I enjoy business and business is about being profitable. Quite frankly, with no profit there is no business. Only a charity that will eventually fade away.

Business is about serving the customer so well they don't want to work with anyone else. You want to solve their problems for them.

Problem Solving is my core skill. Before I had a degree in Engineering, I could fix some of my family's and friends toy's. I fixed my and their bikes, put chains back on the sprocket, adjusted the gear changer so chains would not fall off the ends of the gears.

My father is a do it yourselfer, so I learned by watching and helping. Watching Dad change the tubes on the television (the black & white one), building and painting sheds, gardening, maintaining pool filters, building a trellis for mom, and of course maintaining the cars. It is amazing the patience he had to let us try what he could do in seconds so we would learn.

At fifteen I started working on cars. I insisted on taking Auto Shop as an school option for one semester. Dad bought a meter and a timing light to interest me in taking care of the cars, and was shocked as I taught him what it was for and how to use it. Typical teenager I was car crazy and fascinated with them today. Hybrids are cool, and I have been waiting for hydrogen cars for to come for over 25 years. Thank you BMW for answering that desire. Can't wait for a ride in one.

At sixteen I learned to use computers. I started with teletypes and punch cards. Yes I am an antique. Same time I learned about cars and computers, I also learned to swear. Not sure which one led to that :)

My engineering education and experience taught me how to solve more problems. The facinating thing to me is how little it was calculations to do things, and more about common sense and working with people. Then again my favorite professor in college only taught one formula per semester, and probably needed a calculator to balance his checkbook. So computers can only help us do our work, not think for us.

Now I enjoy growing and fixing businesses. Great products and great services only happen when a small committed team infects everyone to do it together. Someone has to decide lets do it, and the leader has to commit to make it happen. Then magic happens. Airplanes fly, cars get safer, air gets less pollution, more food gets grown, and man can walk on the moon.

So how does a business turnaround from losing money? From losing customers? From having poor quality products and services? It is the same thing. Someone commits to doing it. A leader creates a small team that decides it has no option but to succeed. People don't feel sorry for themselves, and do the hard work it takes to make the customer happy. The team grows, struggles, succeeds a little, fails some, learns and improves. The team solves a couple problems, grows some more, and tackles bringing out new products or services. Along the way, more problems get solved, customers get made happy, and pride comes in being part of a successful business.

That is how you can turnaround businesses.
Steve

PS - Look forward to more thoughts on business, life and problem solving...