This story is an exercise in character styling and allegory.
Character Map
Me: Name Ian, owner of failing business. Tends to talk in an old style avoiding phrasal verbs where possible
Andrew Conian: Consultant with management co. tends to be a bit pompous in style, but using relatively modern language.
Mr Strong: Consultant partner. Grew up in East end probably. Language more casual and colourful
Brendon: Guy in pub, a listening ear. Down to earth but with a gentle way of speaking.
“The Crown” is a pleasant country pub in Surrey. Having never previously visited, everyone there was a stranger to me. Nevertheless it seemed very friendly and when I sat down with my worries and my pint, it was not long before I was conversing with another soul and found myself relating, and almost reliving the history of my woes.
You see, I had been mulling over, for some time, the problems I faced in my business. The firm had been weakened by past poor management and was now struggling to stay afloat. Of that I had no doubt.
So when, one day, returning from a meeting with my bank manager, weighed down by papers and worries, my attention was caught by a small sign outside a rather unprepossessing office, “Strong and Stable, Corporate Consultants”, I was immediately minded to enter.
Whereupon, I was confronted by a sumptuous interior, completely at odds with the door through which I had entered.
An attractive young lady at the reception desk immediately greeted me in the most courteous manner.
When I commented on the surroundings, she explained that Messrs Strong and Stable, with the interests of their clients in mind, desired to create an atmosphere both calming and re-assuring; that I should take a seat; and that their associate Andrew Conian would be out to see me shortly.
Rising a little out of the depression that had previously beset me I sank instead into the soft folds of an antique chesterfield and started thinking through what I might actually ask.
However, in the ten minutes it took for the consultant to appear, my train of thought was repeatedly interrupted; first by an offer of a cup of coffee, then by an invitation to read the company brochure, followed by polite questions about my personal life, how I had travelled and so on. These interruptions left me little time to gather my thoughts and somewhat irritated.
In the midst of this staccato reverie, a man came up to me and introduced himself as “Andrew”. Irritated by yet another interruption and taken slightly aback by the casual approach I responded, shortly, that I was Ian.
I followed “Andrew” into his office, which, it turned out, was no less sumptuous, though somewhat less tidy, than the reception area by which good fortune, I noticed from some of the correspondence scattered across the desk that Andrew was no mere Mister : he was in fact a Doctor.
“Well,” he said, “Would you like to give me an outline of your business and the issues you want to address.”
Buoyed by his apparently businesslike and efficient manner, I started to explain.
“I took over the business from my father some twenty years ago. At that time our business was small in scale and conservative in thinking. He told me that although we did not do huge amounts of business, what we did do was highly profitable because we were very specialised and one of only very few firms in the market supplying left-helical cross-feed nipple adjusters.
“When I took over the business, having little expertise in management myself, I determined to employ a manager. Martin was very energetic and forward thinking, qualities I felt the business lacked. He directed all our resources to expanding our activity base further and further. We widened our range to all kinds of cross-feed and non-cross-feed nipple adjusters, not just the left helical variety. He seemed very successful. The business had a high profile, everyone was busy, and revenues were rising year on year. I was very happy – until the bank manager called me in. We were in financial trouble. I could hardly believe it.
“It seems that while Martin was a good marketing man, he was no accountant. We had entered very competitive market places and revenue success, I discovered, had only been achieved by reducing our prices. In addition, our broadening production range and increased stock-holding had drastically increased our costs.
“In short, nobody has been watching the pennies and the pennies built up from years of past success in the left-helical market place have been eaten up and we are now servicing a large and, to be honest, unsustainable debt.”
“Yes, Ian, I see” said Andrew, “I agree that you have a not insignificant problem here. You will have to take an axe to your costs. It may not be a pleasant prospect, but I assure you it is necessary. Should we have a look at those costs? Yes, of course we must. First your marketing budget. You are still spending money expanding your demand base and you cannot even meet the demand you have. Cut it by 50% at least. Now, labour costs. According to these figures, it looks like about 60% of your costs are labour. You are going to have to substantially trim the work force.”
“But some of these people rely on us. We have been partners for years.”
“This is not the time for romantic notions, Ian. You have to be strong and bring your business back to stability. Let’s tackle the highly paid ones first. These left-helicalists are costing you a fortune, and they are only contributing to a small fraction of your revenues. Get rid of them, my friend. Ian, you need to go through all your costs. You will have to cut to the bone to survive.”
I walked out dejected. As I closed the door I noticed the name plate, “DR. A. CONIAN”. He had certainly lived up to his name.
Well, we have now been operating in a reduced cost environment for some time. Initially, it seemed the strategy, however painful, was working. Our losses were lessening, and even, from time to time we were making a profit and able to start paying back the debt we had run up, and especially the debt we had run up with Strong and Stable.
But now we were facing a different problem. And it was seriously affecting profitability. Our customers were turning away. I decided to return to Strong and Stable and get some advice about the problem.
This time, I met Mr Strong himself, Harry Strong, that is. He struck me as something of what my grandparents used to call a “wide boy”, but Strong and Stable were a successful business, so they must know what they are doing. Some advice from a successful business could surely do no harm.
“Andrew was right,” he told me, “you’ve got to keep your costs down. Trouble is, you’ve been cutting costs without thinking it through. You need to get back to your core business. Cut out all those passengers. Give yourself some elbow room. Focus on the core and put your resources there.
“So, your core business is what. Oh, here I see it, left-helical cross-feed nipple adjusters, is that right?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Well you need to concentrate on those. Look you’re not making money even here in the core business. You can’t afford to ignore that. Cut back on the other areas so you can focus on your core.”
I departed once more with a deep depression. How were we to excel in the core business area. We had sacked all our experts. Not only did we not have them any more, they had all been snapped up by our competitors. However, my belief in Strong and Stable was – strong. I may not like their advice, but I had already paid a small fortune for it, so I had better follow it.
So, we started closing down some of the ancillary operations, but as we did so, we discovered there were many undocumented paths within our business. Unseen synergies between the different units that were generating some of our few areas of profitable business. The result was that even our profitable activities started to turn in losses.
Our customers had lost confidence in us. The local community no longer saw us as the their benefactor. We had sacked staff who had worked for us for years. Local stores and other businesses were suffering knock on effects. In short our business was a mess.
In hindsight, I realise that Strong and Stable gave very poor advice, and that I made very poor judgement in following it. And now I am at a loss.
I awoke from my reverie of despair suddenly realising how much I had revealed to this stranger sitting opposite me here in Surrey’s comfortable pub, “The Crown”.
There was an embarrassing silence which seemed to persist for ages and then he said, “You asked the wrong people, Ian!”
“Well who should I have asked? Wouldn’t you be inspired by “Strong and Stable” if you were facing a crisis?” I asked with embarrassment-driven anger.
“Well it is true, hindsight brings additional wisdom” he said with a sad smile and a gentle voice, “but I think you lost track when you stopped putting your customers at the heart of your decision making. You started to build a fortress around your business instead of going out and talking to them.
“I know because I made the same mistake – see the small red Vauxhall Corsa over there in the car park – it used to be a Porsche. By the way my name is Brendon.”
“You said that you used to be a respected supplier in your industry and employer in the local community. Why not go out to your old customer base and ask them what you did wrong and how you might win back their custom.”
“But that will just make us look weak and wobbly won’t it, Brendon?” I asked.
“You believed all this strong and stable nonsense, and look where it has got you. Your business is in tatters, cut to shreds by a runaway lawn mower. This is not about being weak and wobbly, it is about being humble and responsive.”
“You need to put aside all these strong and stable dogmas, go direct to your customer base, find out what they need and find a way to supply it to them. If you are honest in your approach they will respond with warmth and help you build your road back to success. If you want to call that weak and wobbly, I can’t stop you, but I prefer to call it responsive and realistic.”
I tried to suppress the tears welling up inside me. Brendon was right. It felt true, but it was a bitter horrible truth. I had inherited a successful business and I had let everyone down. It is not nice to realise that you have been a complete and utter fool.
Brendon sensed my emotion, even though I was trying so hard to suppress it, reached across the table and rested his hand on mine.
“It’s not the end of the road” he said, allowing his soft Irish brogue to surface slightly. “And if you need an ear from time to time, I will happily listen.”