Invite at least two outsiders who manage non-competing businesses similar to yours to serve as advisors to your board. If at all possible, find advisors who run their businesses more profitably than you run yours.
Sales & Market Share Growth
Don’t skimp on operations management. Measurable superiority in all aspects of operations is essential for sales salespeople to grow market share. Efficiency is the name of the game. Operating expenses must be controlled to overly competitive levels to enable the sales force to compete.
Don’t confuse loyalty with talent. Don’t kid yourself as you evaluate the talent of your managers and salespeople. In today’s business climate, owners must attract more aggressive and talented sales personnel since they can no longer depend upon the growth of the economy to grow the business.
Management can no longer be content with journeymen salespeople. You must have a sufficiently aggressive general manager who has a track record of being able to attract top-drawer sales performers. You get what you pay for. You must have a top line to have a bottom line. Businesses with executive level managers and salespeople are in the best position to survive.
