Business Storm Cycle

Tornado Warning? Be Prepared

By |2017-02-16T08:00:14+00:00February 16th, 2017|Categories: Business Storm Cycle, Hypergrowth Tornado|

What do you do when the weather report warns of an impending large-scale storm? You hit the hardware store for flashlights, batteries and candles, nail sheets of plywood over your windows, and make sure your storm cellar is ready for occupation. You buy gas for the generator if you have one, and you line up with your neighbors for milk and bread at the supermarket. In other words, you prepare. You may not be able [...]

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WHETHER YOU’RE GOING UP, OR COMING DOWN…

By |2017-01-19T08:00:16+00:00January 19th, 2017|Categories: Business Storm Cycle, Deceleration Avalanche, Hypergrowth Tornado|

It doesn’t matter if you’re in an accelerating or decelerating phase of the Business Storm Cycle; the transformation is a similar process. What you’ll find on the upper slope when you’re accelerating is that you don’t have the right applications; you have people in the wrong roles, or you don’t have enough people. On the deceleration slope, you’ll find you have redundancies. You probably have double or triple entries. You have too many people on [...]

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THE UPSIDE OF A DOWNTURN

By |2016-12-29T08:00:14+00:00December 29th, 2016|Categories: Business Storm Cycle, Deceleration Avalanche|

When it comes to going through business cycles, there’s always some good news that goes along with every phase, even the ones that seem the bleakest when you’re in them. Consider the caterpillar: If someone was to tell it, “Hey, buddy, time to stop crawling around eating leaves! You have to climb inside this tiny little sack for the next few months,” that’s going to sound like pretty bad news to the caterpillar. The good [...]

AFTER THE STORM: Professionalizing IT

By |2016-12-15T08:00:33+00:00December 15th, 2016|Categories: Business Storm Cycle, Deceleration Avalanche|

When you’re coming out of that dizzying hypergrowth business phase we call the Tornado, it’s time to get things back in order. That means salvaging as much as you can that you chucked out the window, and then getting it all organized once again. Professionalization of IT often has to be re-implemented after a heavy-growth phase. It needs policies and procedures to follow and standard operating procedures. While professionalizing your team, you want to focus [...]

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What Goes Up …

By |2016-11-22T05:12:19+00:00November 22nd, 2016|Categories: Business Storm Cycle, Deceleration Avalanche|

Your big upward rush has stalled, and somehow, despite all those sales and all the new people you’ve brought on, your margins are rapidly shrinking. How could that be? And who will shoulder the responsibility? This is when the finger pointing and frustration typically begin in the part of the business cycle I call the Avalanche. Administration—the back office—has been throwing a lot of people and a lot of money at all these symptoms. Executive [...]

That Roaring Sound You Hear Might Just Be A Tornado…

By |2016-11-17T13:00:17+00:00November 17th, 2016|Categories: Business Storm Cycle, Hypergrowth Tornado|

Have you ever seen a tornado up close and in person? I promise you, it’s not something you can ignore or overlook. The sky goes black; the wind starts to blow, and suddenly the trees are bent over sideways. If you’ve been listening to the weather reports, you’ve probably already prepared for its impact as well as you can; grabbing your flashlight, taking supplies down into your storm cellar if you have one, or getting [...]

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Surviving the Storm Cycle: The Jim Crane Story

By |2016-11-03T09:50:20+00:00November 3rd, 2016|Categories: Business Storm Cycle|

Smart leadership is crucial to any business going through the series of peaks and valleys I call the Business Storm Cycle; the Tornado of rapid growth and expansion, followed by the Avalanche period of fast deceleration, which is followed by the consolidation phase. Without a steady hand at the helm, even the best employees can become burned out and dispirited – and the company may flounder, or even fail. Jim Crane is a good example [...]

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Professionalizing IT

By |2016-10-13T09:53:35+00:00October 13th, 2016|Categories: Business Storm Cycle|

For smooth operating, your IT department has to be professionalized, with policies and procedures to follow and standard operating procedures. While professionalizing your team, you want to focus on desktops instead of individuals; in other words, it’s the role, not the person that will keep everything running efficiently. If the role is well-defined and well-documented, processes will continue to move smoothly, without gaps, hesitations, or blockages. You achieve this by implementing a PMO—a project management [...]

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When the Tornado has Passed…

By |2016-10-13T09:04:53+00:00October 13th, 2016|Categories: Business Storm Cycle, Hypergrowth Tornado|

So – you’ve hit the hard wall of slowdown we call Consolidation. You’ve gone through the heady, wild sales spike and rapid growth of the Tornado, and suddenly you’ve stalled. Sales are down, and you’re not making your margins – not even close. Now what? This is not the time to point fingers and blame people for whatever brought your Tornado to an end. No one did anything wrong. Everything you are experiencing is a [...]

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This Is A Custom Widget

This Sliding Bar can be switched on or off in theme options, and can take any widget you throw at it or even fill it with your custom HTML Code. Its perfect for grabbing the attention of your viewers. Choose between 1, 2, 3 or 4 columns, set the background color, widget divider color, activate transparency, a top border or fully disable it on desktop and mobile.
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