Bob owned and ran a software business for a specialist sector. It was a really good product, loved by its users and he was a really effective salesman.
But he was running like crazy just to stand still; which meant he dare not stop running but he also knew the status quo was unsustainable. Inevitable, from a cash perspective, it was hand-to-mouth, which no slack to play with.
The first need was actually to find some time without creating a cash crisis. I showed Bob that selling the payment terms was as much past of the sales process as getting the Order signed. He set to work and over a couple of months went from giving 60 days credit to receiving 50% with order, 50% on delivery. Together with a concerted effort on collecting the outstanding debtors, this improved the cash situation immeasurably and bough Bob some free time to implement stage 2.
Which was to complete development of a full SQL based multi-user version of the software for larger businesses. The upscaled version was delivered on time and was well received in the marketplace.
As a result, average sales values increased by a factor of 10, for the same or sometimes less sales effort. Support costs were less for these customers than for the legacy customers, but ongoing support revenue was proportionately bigger too.
All this transformed the situation, allowing Bob to bring in an MD to manage the business, allowing him to concentrate on sales, his strength and the thing he enjoyed most. The business continues to go from strength to strength
Case study 2 – Restaurant business – quick turn-around