5 tips to turn around deeply troubled or bankrupt companies - useful for Turnaround Business Consultants (A very lucrative consulting opportunity in today's economic environment!)

(This is from the book "If I knew then what I know now". Reference below)

Moran.Jr, A. (1997). 5 Tips to turn around deeply troubled or bankrupt companies. In R. Edler, If I knew then what I know now (pp. 120-122). New York, NY, USA: Berkley Business.

I turn around deeply troubled companies for a living. The following 5 steps apply every time:

• STEP 1: Grab the cash. Cut the existing deals with vendors, sell assets, stop payments.
• STEP 2: Freeze expenses. Don't worry about revenue. Just lock down the expenses. Cut everything you can, including executive salaries. Let them feel the crisis and share in the solutions.
• STEP 3: Interview everyone you can. All the information about faults and solutions is already in the house.
• STEP 4: Formulate a strategy for direction of the company. It is better to have a half correct strategy now than to have a perfectly right strategy in 6 months. By then, it will be too late.
• STEP 5: Draw up an "ideal" organization chart, to reflect the minimum necessary staff to implement this strategy. Most managers take the existing staff to implement this strategy and try to find a job for them. This is a disaster. Plan the organization (company). If people don't fit, get rid of them. Sounds cold, but executives are paid to execute.

That's it! Works everytime.

 

"MBA Classmates versus Real Friends" or "Colleagues versus Real Friends".

From the link: http://www.wetfeet.com/advice-tools/on-the-job/work-friends-vs-real-friends

(Please read the full article from the link above. This was not written by me)

An important lesson about work friends vs. real friends: It’s easy to mistake one for the other, especially when you’re struggling to establish a social life. In school, making friends is as simple as walking over to the dorm room next door and plopping down on the bed. After college, there are no such opportunities. Because you might be too busy to go out and meet new people, the tendency is to target your coworkers. It makes sense. After all, they might be the only people you know that are your age, and you see them for eight hours every day.

While many people use work as a springboard for building strong friendships outside the office, I wouldn’t assume your colleagues are your new best friends just because you take your coffee breaks together. There are differences between close friends who will be there for you through life’s tough times and people you hang out with while you happen to be stuck in the same building. You can spare yourself disappointment later on by noting the differences between a work friend and a real friend. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• If your friend left the company, would you still be in touch with her in a year?
• If you had a personal emergency, would you consider asking your friend for help?
• Do you hang out with your friend outside the office? (Weekday lunch, happy hour, and business trips don’t count.)
• Have you met your friend’s significant other? What about her friends outside the office?
• If your friend received the promotion you were banking on, would you be genuinely happy for her?
• If you ran into your friend in the grocery store, would you be able to talk to her for 10 minutes without mentioning work?
• Have you seen where your friend lives?
• Do you and your friend have anything in common besides your age and your job?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, you might have found yourself a real friend at work. Take care of this relationship by making a concerted effort to spend time with your friend outside the office. You and your friend should also avoid working together too closely. Like living with close friends, being in business with them can sometimes be disastrous. Whether we like it or not, people can behave differently when money, power, and careers are at stake. Suppose you and your friend pair up for a high-profile, new business project. Your friend could be the kindest, most generous person in the world after quitting time, but she might take all the credit and do none of the work in the office. You don’t want to put yourself in a situation where you must choose between your friendship and your career.

If you’re lucky, your classmates / people you meet at work could turn into a friends for life (and not just Facebook friends, LOL :) !

 

"MBA Graduation Bucket List" or "50 things to do before you graduate from Business School"

From the link:  http://www.wetfeet.com/advice-tools/career-planning/the-graduation-bucket-list

1. Share a drink and some thoughts with a professor. He’s got wisdom beyond his years—and connections.

2. Get business cards. Include your name, tagline (ex: Creative Software Engineer), contact info, a link to your LinkedIn profile or portfolio, and a simple logo.

3. Have your resume reviewed by your career center. Then keep it up-to-date and ready to go at all times.

4. Shop around for a nice pen. Don’t lose it.

5. Update your voicemail message. No jokes, no mumbling.

6. Dress the professional part with a properly fitting interview suit. Buy one now, before you have interviews lined up. If you already have one, make sure it still fits.

7. Check out trade magazines and blogs on your industry or field. Sign up for newsletters. Get reading.

8. Take the Myers-Briggs personality profile test in your career counseling office (where it’s likely free). See if you’re more ENFJ or ISTP, because somewhere, someday, you’ll use this information.

9. Buy resume paper. Look for a minimum of 20 lb. paper, made of cotton or linen. While it won’t make a drab resume shine, it’s a nice touch for one that’s already stellar.

10. Learn how to tie a tie—girls too.

11. Look for a tote or messenger bag to replace your threadbare backpack. No skull patches permitted.

12. Learn how to cook 5 guest-worthy meals. Ramen won’t cut it when you make dinner for a date.

13. Nail your 30-second elevator pitch.

14. Create a LinkedIn profile and ask a former employer to recommend you. Write a concise and confident summary that describes your qualifications and career goals. LinkedIn is first to show up when you’re Googled by a recruiter, so make sure your intro is strong enough to keep them reading.

15. Get a shirt/hat/hoodie with your school’s name or logo. Wear your new gear to a baseball or lacrosse game and shotgun a beer at the tailgate for old time’s sake.

16. Set up informational interviews with people in your chosen field. Use your contacts—professional acquaintances, family, friends, your school’s alumni database—and browse recent news articles related to your career interests and track down the person who was quoted or profiled.

Start by writing an email that tells the person why you’ve contacted him, whether it’s “Steve Smith recommended I speak with you,” or “I read your article in the Post and want to hear more about your work.” Then give a little background and say why you would value a meeting—but don’t make it as formal or as long as a cover letter, and don’t include your resume.

End your letter by giving a few dates and times you’re available. A standard request is a 15-minute phone interview, but if you feel comfortable, ask for lunch or coffee. And when the time comes, foot the bill.

17. Wake up early—as in, before 9—once per week. Sleeping in is a tough habit to break, so you’d better start now. (See the Wake Up! Article)

18. Beef up on meal etiquette so you’re not the gal who digs into her surf and turf before the rest of the table’s dishes have arrived. For that matter, don’t be the gal who orders surf and turf at a recruiting dinner.

19. Consider how much beer has been spilled on your nice black shoes. Treat yourself to a new pair that’s interview-worthy. While you’re at it, buy a belt to match.

20. Switch your Facebook profile picture to one that’s beverage-free. Change your privacy settings so that only friends have access to all of your pictures.

21. Ask your college alumni office for a list of graduates from your program. Pick 3 and email them with questions: Where are they now? How did they get their gig? What do they wish they’d known upon graduation?

22. Apply for a passport.

23. Set up a professional Gmail account. Lose the “babigurl,” or “sk8punk.”

24. Pay your library tab so a $2.30 fine doesn’t prevent you from getting your diploma.

25. Join your school’s alumni database.

26. Start wearing a watch. It shouldn’t have a Velcro closure or a Hello Kitty face.

27. Have your headshot taken for the yearbook. Use it as your LinkedIn picture. Don’t forget to give a copy to Grandma.

28. Participate in every college event that uses the word “networking” in its description—happy hours included. When you arrive, don’t huddle with your friends: The point is to network. Work the room.

29. Take advantage of career center workshops, mock interviews, and career counselor sessions.

30. Join industry, field of study, and alumni groups on LinkedIn.

31. Attend as many career fairs as you can.

32. Ask your landlord for a reference. If you ask him in a year when you’re trying to rent a bachelor pad two states away, he may mistake you for the jerk who stuffed frozen turkeys in his walls.

33. Consolidate your loans and find out your credit score. If you don’t yet have credit, get yourself a credit card and charge responsibly to build a positive credit history.

34. Take the GREs, MCATs, GMATs, or LSATs while you’re still in the test-taking mode.

35. Volunteer with the admissions department by hosting a high-school student. Put this on your resume. Just don’t let him get alcohol poisoning.

36. Sell your books. As much as you think you’ll refer to your Psych 101 books as a consultant, you probably won’t.

37. Use your book money to buy a leather portfolio for interviews.

38. Follow career advice blogs.

39. Import the contacts from your .edu address into your Gmail account. Your school account could soon vanish.

40. Ask your professor for a recommendation while he can still put a face with your name and your good work.

41. Build your portfolio. Don’t let years of work disappear. Store the contents of your computer with an online backup service or on an external hard drive. Create both digital and physical portfolios of your work. Make copies of any school papers you’d like to look at ten years down the road, like that 30-pager on Mexican immigration reform.

47. Wean yourself off of study drugs. Employers might check for them. And stop smoking the broccoli. They test for that, too.

48. Choose 5 target employers and send your resume and a targeted cover letter to a recruiter or manager at each organization.

49. Be able to answer this question: If you were an office supply, which would you be and why?

50. Partake in a school tradition. Streak through the quad. Swim in the fountain.