Is Your Business Getting To Be A Fire Fighting Nightmare?

Firefighting doesn’t work. You fix one issue & it raises its ugly head again somewhere else! You just create stress wasting time & money on problems that won’t go away. There’s a need to identify the cause of the problem & then to create & execute a plan to fix it. Sometimes the biggest obstacle is facing up to a fear of not wanting to take action.

What Are Some Examples Of Firefighting, Their Causes & The Solutions?

The Problem Was Increasing The Sales Of A Printing Company

The prevailing market offer was based on price. Clients were forced however, to order large quantities to get these low prices. This led to unwanted large inventories & wastage due to obsolescence. The prevailing market offer was based on the outmoded belief that order quantities had to be a certain minimum amount to be economic. The Printer realised that he could accept the lower order quantities required by the market & still make a profit. This change of policy created a flood of orders that he was able to handle by increasing his productivity. How he did this is another story. These productivity changes were so dramatic that he was able to offer reduced delivery times with guarantees. The market found these offers to be unrefusable. Sales were no longer a problem!

A Manufacturer Was About To Close

It was losing money & having trouble meeting payroll. The Bank was not happy. The problem was that the factory was in chaos. Too many orders were in progress with too much work-in-progress lying about waiting to be squeezed through a critical machine. Everyone wanted this machine at the same time. Part orders were being delivered to placate clients, but the cash flow from accounts receivable was terrible. Clients were cancelling orders. Working overtime was expensive & only partly successful. The stress & drama was a fire fighting nightmare. The solution involved stopping the release of new orders until all the work-in- progress had been processed, restricting the release of new orders into the shop to match its capacity, improving the productivity of the critical machine & using scheduling charts in the factory to prevent late deliveries. Cashflow was re-established & closure was avoided!

A Supplier Of Reconditioned Machinery Needed More Sales

Magazine advertising & repeat sales were no longer doing the business. The customer mix had changed. Co-operatives had emerged in one whole industry that now bought & shared new machinery amongst its members. Many machines were no longer being bought by individuals for later reconditioning. This was a major change. Depressed economic conditions also had an impact. The issue was how to expand their customer base very quickly to increase sales. A website was created in a matter of weeks to make contact with people searching for engines, transmissions, spare parts & reconditioned trucks. Enquiries were increased & sales closed. The Owners are a lot happier!

The stress & drama in each of these cases was a fire fighting nightmare. The Owners & managers were working long hours. They were anxious to say the least. Their health & relationships with others were all showing signs of the strain. It was all getting to be a bit too much when we first came to see them. It’s now a different story.

I’m Interested! What Do I Do Now?

Email us with your contact details & a short message on your business. We will call within 24 hours & make an appointment to see you within 2 weeks. This may be in person or via a conference call. We will do an analysis & present a proposal customised to meet your unique needs. We provide guarantees. We only take on work that we know from experience that we can do successfully.

Wait A Minute, How Much Is All This Going To Cost Me?

The analysis & proposal is free of charge. There is no obligation to proceed.

There are low cost do-it-yourself solutions including training & monthly visits with unlimited phone & E-Mail contact or attendance at regular group meetings with other companies for education, discussion & the development of solutions.

Alternatively, our people can work onsite to deliver results very quickly for those larger companies that want fast results & a quick payback. This service delivers cash flow improvements that pay for our services many times over. We have a long list of Referees.

If you need finance, we have a Financier who has examined our business operation & is willing to provide the funds to our clients on competitive terms.

We also have a powerful 8 day workshop that we run for larger companies that want a team of their people solving their problem together. This workshop is run each month. Smaller companies that accept a monthly consulting programme can earn credits over 6 months to attend this Workshop for a reduced fee. See www.blackbeltinthinking.com for more information.

What If My People Don’t Accept The Changes Required?

We won’t start a project unless it has the support of Owners/MD, Managers & Supervisors. We endeavour to get to this point by presenting the analysis & the recommended solution to them for review. This may be preceded by a workshop to provide training. If people still have doubts, we arrange for visits to our client sites for people to talk to their counterparts & to see systems in action. Some of our clients are so keen to learn more about our processes, that they volunteer to work free of charge on new client applications.

Even with this precaution in place, we have seen Executives give their support in public only to have them fail to participate through inaction. As consultants we work through your people. We do not have or want the Executive authority to make things happen. We will bring such situations to your attention.

I'm Exhausted! How Do I Find The Time To Make This Happen?

If you get a heart attack, a stroke, a pulmonary embolism or other blockages in your veins or arteries etc., the stark reality is that you will be forced to stop dead in your tracks. There is nothing you can do about it. It’s non negotiable. You’re in the hands of your Doctors. Hopefully, you recover & carry on. Life then takes on a whole new meaning. Every day is precious. This may seem to be overly dramatic. It’s a reality for me. I’ve seen it happen.

Stress, depression & the accompanying comforters that include overeating & alcohol together with a sedentary lifestyle have been identified as major risk factors for overworked Executives. To be frank, the real question is whether the risk you’re taking is worth it. A major cause of this health issue is how people react to stress. Our contribution is to help people to moderate this stress.

Don’t be a statistic. Step back. Work on the cause, not the effects. The nightmare will fade & the chaos will morph into a much calmer business & a better lifestyle for everyone.

So How Do I Go About Making Such A Big Shift In Behaviour?

Besides listening to us, taking advice from the professionals in these areas would be good. We have worked with a Clinical Psychologist on behavioural change & a Personal Trainer on exercise & nutrition who we can recommend. They can be lifesavers if properly employed.

Who Are These People?

Some of the people involved in delivering this service are shown below. The Unit Consulting Network, founded in 1984, is an alliance of practitioners working together as a team to deliver a result. They are all tertiary qualified people with many years of practical experience. The business consulting programme that we use is based on the work of the late Dr. Eli Goldratt called Constraint Management & Theory of Constraints (TOC). James Powell is an accredited consultant to the Goldratt Institute & a leading & well respected practitioner in the South Pacific area.

The Unit Consulting Network Alliance Partners

John Harkins

Consultant

B.Sc.(Eng.)

M.Eng.Sc.

The Unit Consulting Network

www.unitconsulting.com.au

Peter Thorby

Business Pilot

B.Com.

ACA

ViAGO International Limited

www.viagointernational.com/

The Competitive Advantage

www.the-competitive-advantage.com

Bryce England

Google Expert

Post Graduate PGDipFin Distinction

MSc (Tech) 1st Class Hons

DipMgtSt

ViAGO International Limited

www.viagointernational.com/

James Powell

Consultant

B.Agr.Sci.

Black Belt in Thinking

www.blackbeltinthinking.com

Geoffrey Pickworth

Clinical Psychologist

Eric Harkins

Personal Trainer

Certificate III and IV in fitness.

Senior first aid and CPR certificate.

Bachelor of business degree.

Eastern Suburbs Personal Training

www.espt.com.au

Contact us now to find out how The Unit Consulting Network can help you achieve clarity of purpose and action for your business… a balance between work, contemplation and play for you and your family.

We will call within 24 hours & make an appointment to see you within 2 weeks. This may be in person or via a conference call. We will do an analysis & present a proposal customised to meet your unique needs. We provide guarantees. We only take on work that we know from experience that we can do successfully.