Turning a business around isn’t for the birds. Or, the Byrds.
Business, like life, is constant change, and there are forces at work we can’t control and don’t always see, but we should always do our best, for us, our customers, our employees, our vendors, e.g.
“Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” — often abbreviated to “Turn! Turn! Turn!” — is a song written that was originally penned by the brilliant, late Pete Seeger about sixty years ago. The lyrics are historical and religious in nature, having essentially been borrowed from Chapter 3 of The Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible, but they are best known as a huge hit for the American band The Byrds, before reaching #1 on the Hot 100 chart on December 4, 1965.
(Here’s the link to the band’s site in case you’re interested:
There are business (and life) lessons within the song, and therein lies the genesis of the behavioral factors which ultimately lead to the need for a business turnaround.
Businesses can usually be improved, as sales could always be higher, no one would argue that the larger the backlog and new projects pipeline the better, right? And, expenses could always be lower. Customers could be happier, products of greater quality, and financial controls improved.
Business, like life itself, is nonlinear, and provides for many opportunities to improve.
Following are the lyrics to the Byrds’ 1965 #1 hit, and in many ways, it tells the story of the struggling startup, or the mature business with poor margins. It reminds us that there are times to tighten our grasp as managers, and times to let go.
It speaks to the reality that we must sow today to reap in the future.
Turn, Turn, Turn
To everything — turn, turn, turn
There is a season — turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven (yes, in business, and in life, everything changes, all the time.)
A time to be born, a time to die (Businesses, products, employees and even CEO’s and management teams have life cycles)
A time to plant, a time to reap (A time to invest in your people and R&D, a time to cash in on that investment by innovating)
A time to kill, a time to heal (A time to stop putting good money after bad, and shut down poorly performing divisions, subsidiaries, products, services, and bad ideas and policies; a time to move on and continue to refine, grow, nurture the good parts of the business)
A time to laugh, a time to weep (celebrate and feel the emotions and ebbs and flows of the business and express joy and remorse, but move on)
(Here’s the chorus reminding us of constant change, and that there are forces at work we can’t control and don’t always see, but we should always do our best, for us, our customers, our employees, our vendors, e.g.)
To everything — turn, turn, turn
There is a season — turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven
A time to build up, a time to break down (know when the right time is to scale and grow the business, and when to tuck in the wings and retrench a bit)
A time to dance, a time to mourn (when you won the big bid, when you lost, but no matter what happens, learn from it and move on)
A time to cast away stones (poor performers, whether products, services, inefficient processes, poorly performing divisions, poorly executed plans, bad brands, even employees, need to be set free)
A time to gather stones together (lead those who can change and motivate them to be better at their jobs)
A time of love, a time of hate (have love for your customers and employees and love for competition (but never hate anyone or anything — it clouds your judgment))
A time of war, a time of peace (competition, a time for reflection while planning next stages of evolution of the firm)
A time you may embrace (do your best and execute)
A time to refrain from embracing (retreat, envision, plan)
The point is to manage the business directionally, pivot and turn and twist and turn and dodge, and have all the moves to be nimble and flexible.
Things change every day, and reacting quickly and accurately can ensure that your business won’t take a turn for the worse, but if it does, you can rely on experts adept at:
fixing and turning around businesses
increasing their sales
containing costs
getting clearer, more focused reports
having dashboards and reliable fundamentals
ensuring happier customers, employees, vendors
improving quality, response time, accuracy, satisfaction
developing leaders
Dramatic turnaround isn’t for everyone, and if your business needs changes in order to survive and prosper, hire the right professional and let them create the plan to turn things in the right direction.