Lessons for CEOs

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Sales Were Up, Profits Were Down: What Happened?

In my last blog, “Big Sales Don’t Mean Big Profits,” I told the story of two companies I worked with that had increasing sales but declining profits. They both had problems with their product mix.

It was too late for one company — the owners didn’t want to make the investment needed to keep it running after we identified the problem so they closed it down after 30 years.

We were able to save the other company, although it shrunk from a $600 million company to a $350 million company.

What could both of these companies have done differently? What could have kept them out of this situation, which caused one of them to go out of business completely and the other to shrink to almost half its size?

Although the circumstances related to the issues with their product mixes were very different, the root cause of the problem in both cases was the same: a lack of communication.

Company A, which was a $2 million company that manufactured and distributed products, ran into trouble when their lower-profit sales to big box stores increased, pushing their margins down until they were no longer profitable. The operations and sales manager knew that the percentage of the lower profit sales to the big box companies was increasing — it went from 20% to 80% — yet no one discussed it.

The chief financial officer must have recognized the situation because the profitability of the company was severely impacted, but also didn’t raise the issue. Because no one talked about it, no one attempted to fix it. As Peter Drucker said, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” You can’t fix what you don’t acknowledge. So the situation just got worse.

With Company B, whose management assured me they did not have a problem with their product mix, we found that even though the company had spent millions on computer systems to make sure they knew exactly what their costs were, there was still a breakdown in the system.

We found that there had been a lot of turnover in one of the key positions responsible for the accuracy of the data going into the computer systems. The new people taking over were not being properly trained. So the company had been selling products based on inaccurate cost structures. Again, there was a failure in communication.

In this case, I was reminded of a quote by George Bernard Shaw, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

Communication is one of the keys to the success of any business. In my book, “How Not to Hire a Guy Like Me: Lessons Learned from CEOs’ Mistakes” I discuss the value of honest and open communication. In the case of Company A, the management of the company should have noticed the drastic change that was taking place in their product mix and discussed the situation. Together they could have determined what the effect on the business would be and taken steps to deal with the inevitable decline in profits.

As for Company B, it had a breakdown in the quality of training new staff. The duties of people in a key position were not being adequately communicated so the job was not being performed as it should have been.

Good communication at all levels of an organization can alert you to ways to improve your company while also providing early warning signs if things are starting to go wrong. Open communication will not only help steer your company through hard times, it can prevent them from occurring in the first place.

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Big Sales Don’t Mean Big Profits

I want to share a story about two companies that I worked with, one with $2 million dollar of revenue and the other with $600 million per year. Although they were vastly different in size, they both shared the same problem. I was able to help save one, although it shrunk to almost half its size. The other one liquidated after being in business for 30 years.

Both companies had increasing sales volume over the years. So what happened? It’s all about the product mix.

Company A, the smaller one, manufactured and distributed products, selling those products at a 50% gross margin for many years. Then they began selling to big box companies, which negotiated to a 20% gross margin. But with 80% of their business still at the 50% gross margin, the company was still profitable. Life was good for many years for the owners.

The big box customers then drove the margin down further, from 20% to 12%. Again, because of the increased volume, it remained profitable because 80% of their sales were at the higher margin.

Sales are up - great! But profits are down. What happened?

Sales are up – great! But profits are down. What happened? Here is the story of two companies that experienced that situation.

However, gradually over a three-year period, their product mix changed to 80% at the lower gross margin for the big boxes, which left just 20% at the 50% margin. Management didn’t notice the affect that this change in the product mix was having, as management tended to focus on increasing sales and became dependent on increasing bank financing. Large sales volumes frequently cover up a deeper problem.

In year three, the company had a healthy loss, ie red ink, and the banks didn’t want to lend money to this entity. I was called in and identified the mix problem. We came up with a 2-3 year turnaround plan that was reviewed with the ownership. The owners decided not to invest the money it would take to turn around the company and decided to shut the doors.

When I went to Company B, it had been borrowing more and more money from the bank, because the bankers liked the company and considered it prestigious. The bankers should have asked questions sooner but in any event, I was called in when they realized the company was in trouble.

The management first denied they had any issues with the pricing of their bill of materials, the BOM, or their product mix. They had spent millions on computer systems and software to track it and felt confident that they knew their costs. Because the company was in a low margin industry, they had realized that keeping track of the BOM was critical to making a profit and had made the investment to do so.

What I was able to determine, however, is that there had been a lot of turnover in a key position when it came to ensuring that the numbers management were receiving were accurate. The new people coming in had not been property trained, and had not been giving those fancy computers the right information for the correct cost structure. As a result, the company had been selling based on the wrong cost structure for years.

After identifying the problem, we were able to get an accurate view of the cost structure and change the product mix. Because of the severe losses it had suffered, the company shrunk from a $600 million in annual revenue to a $350 million; the owners came up with millions in new equity and the company survived.

Both companies suffered from a failure to recognize what was happening with their product mix. While management saw increasing sales, what they didn’t deal with was that profitability was going down.

Next column: What could they have done differently?

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The Value of the Low-Tech Whiteboard in a High-Tech World

I had to chuckle when I saw an article last week in the Wall Street Journal, “High Tech’s Secret Weapon: The White Board.” Even though I am a fast adopter of technology, I am a major supporter of using the whiteboard in my work as the Turnaround Authority. In fact, I even devoted a whole subchapter of my book, “How Not to Hire a Guy Like Me: Lessons Learned from CEOs’ Mistakes,” to the whiteboard, touting it as one of the keys to success.

So I found it humorous to see this old-fashioned tool referred to as a secret weapon. What was even more interesting is that the article is about the company that developed the note-taking app Evernote. I use Evernote every day, making notes in my iPad that are automatically synced to my computer so I have them with me wherever I go. I can take photos and create to-do lists as well. And the best thing is that these notes are totally searchable so I never waste time tracking down information I need.

I loved learning that almost every surface of the offices of Evernote in Silicon Valley are covered with IdeaPaint, which allows the employees to write on the walls with dry-erase markers. Evernote relies on this low-tech way to engage employees in focusing on developing their high tech products. And it seems many other high tech firms do the same.

As the author, Farhad Manjoo, noted, “Whiteboards are to Silicon Valley what legal pads are to lawyers, what Excel is to accountants, and what long sleeves are to magicians.”

Here are just a few things to love about the use of a whiteboard for business.

1. Anyone can use it

We can all pick up a marker and draw on a whiteboard. I can’t say the same for the ability for everyone to master collaborative software or being able to share documents digitally.

2. It allows people to focus

I would argue that we focus better when looking at the large canvas of the whiteboard than staring at the small screen of a computer, having been conditioned since we were children by the teacher diagramming sentences and doing math problems on a large chalkboard.

3. It points out gaps in logic

One of my favorite ways to use a whiteboard is to draw timelines. I find that drawing on a whiteboard helps a group to clarify complex situations and analyze the issues involved in a particular situation.

For example, I once worked with a racetrack that took 18 months and $100 million to build, and just 30 days to run out of cash. We created a 12-month timeline to get the racetrack out of bankruptcy. It was ambitious, as we had a lot to accomplish for the company to make that goal. But by putting everything that needed to be done on the whiteboard, each person could visualize their own responsibilities and how crucial it was that they each complete their jobs on time so we could make the deadline.

4. It enables collaboration and buy-in

When people participate in the whiteboard process they can clearly visualize their roles and how they all need to work together to accomplish the set goal. And if everyone is allowed to participate and share their ideas freely, you generally achieve automatic buy-in of the steps to achieve that goal.

I’ll continue to incorporate the latest technology into my business. But I will forever be a fan of the good old whiteboard. It’s nice to know all the whiz kids in Silicon Valley agree with me.

Look for me November 10 at 4:30 at the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. I’ll be discussing my book,  ”How Not to Hire a Guy Like Me: Lessons Learned from CEOs’ Mistakes.” The event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

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When An Entrepreneur Needs to Hire a Professional Manager

Every successful entrepreneur of a certain size company figured out at some point that he needed to hire a professional to run the company so he could do what he does best — create new products and services, explore new market niches and consider new ways to market existing products and services.

Every company needs a balance between the creative visionary and the person who can focus on the day-to-day activities of running the company. The skills and vision needed to start a business are not the same as those required to keep it running.

Walt Disney dreamed up ideas for Disney. But it was his brother Roy (right) who found the money to fund his big dreams.

Walt Disney dreamed up ideas for Disney. But it was his brother Roy (right) who found the money to fund his big dreams.

We are all familiar with Walt Disney, the creative genius behind Disney. How many people know that he actually started the business with his younger brother, Roy? Walt was the creative one, but Roy is the one who raised the money and kept it financially stable. In terms of revenue, it is now the largest media conglomerate in the world.

Mark Zuckerberg hired Sean Parker as the first president of Facebook in 2004, and although Sean was later ousted for his excessive partying, Zuckerberg has said, “Sean was pivotal in helping Facebook transform from a college project into a real company.”

Sometimes I am asked at what point an entrepreneur needs to hire a professional manager. There is no particular formula. It totally depends on the industry and the needs of the company. It could be at the $1 million level or one much higher, or even in some cases, lower.

As an indication, here are two signs that it may be time to hire a professional to help you run your company:

1. You are no longer doing what you do best

Rather than focusing on innovations to keep your company growing and increasing market share, you are spending more time on areas like accounting and managing a growing workforce. Getting help in those areas will allow you to focus on using your personal strengths to improve the company.

You may be one of those entrepreneurs who actually is a very good manager and things have been going well so far. But you can only handle so many jobs, and if you are spending a majority of your time managing the company, who is managing the innovation to make the company continue to grow?

2. Your company has outgrown your ability to handle it on your own

A professional manager will not only take over some of the workload, she can bring new skills to the company and instill best practices from experiences at other businesses. She can also analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your business in a way you are unable to as the founder of the business.

A successful entrepreneur is one that is able to recognize when he needs to hire professional help and is then able to make the transition to having someone else handle the day-to-day management.

For tips on how to hire the right professional, see my column “How to Search for Superstars.”

Look for me November 10 at 4:30 at the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. I’ll be discussing my book,  ”How Not to Hire a Guy Like Me: Lessons Learned from CEOs’ Mistakes.” The event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

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Creating Your Business Development Plan

I had just been hired by a company to help it turn things around when there was a fire in the corporate office. Now, as a Turnaround Authority I had come in to “put out fires” before but this was the first time we literally had flames!

Fortunately, the company’s records were backed up once a week. Unfortunately, the person designated to take home the back-up every week so it would be in a separate location was out sick that day. In addition to everything else that was lost, a week’s worth of records were unrecoverable.

While this company eventually recovered, some don’t ever recover from a disaster. They lose weeks of production resulting in the loss of sales, profit and customers. Even if a company has business interruption insurance, it may not be enough to cover the losses suffered. And it won’t get your customers back.

In last week’s column I discussed the need for every business to have a continuity/disaster recovery (BC/DR) plan and the three elements that should be included: how employees will communicate, where they will go and how they will continue to do their jobs.

This week I’d like to address how you get started creating one. It is an extensive document and can be an overwhelming process, but there is help.

There are a lot of great resources for businesses on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website, including this helpful diagram of the four steps of an effective BC/DR plan.

5.3.4.0 Business Continuity Planning Process

Step One: Business Impact Analysis

The first step is to gather information to evaluate how your business will be impacted should operations be disrupted. Conduct a risk assessment and look for areas where your business may be vulnerable should a disaster occur. For example, does your building have an operational sprinkler system and are your fire alarms fully operational? Do your employees know what to do in case of fire?

Use a Business Impact Analysis Worksheet that breaks down the operational and financial impacts according to the timing and duration of the disruption in business operations. For example, a company that distributes gardening supplies and experiences a disaster in January will be less affected than if the same disaster occurred in April, a busier time of year. And obviously, a power outage that lasts a few hours is much less disruptive than one that may continue for several days.

Step Two: Recovery Strategies

Using the information you gathered in step one, document and identify your options for recovery and areas where you may need to fill in gaps. You may have identified that you don’t have current information on how to reach your employees in the event of an emergency. Perhaps an alternate site that you had previously identified for relocation is no longer a viable one or your technology needs have changed.

After selecting strategies that will work for your company, have management approve them and then begin to implement those strategies.

Step Three: Plan Development

Develop the framework of your plan. You may wish to use the Business Continuity Plan form that is provided on the FEMA website. The form will help you organize the business continuity team and addresses interaction with external organizations. Who will contact your vendors and contractors? The form includes a place to list all your vendors and contractors along with their contact information.

Step Four: Testing and Exercise

The last step includes developing an orientation exercise and testing for the business continuity team. Employees need to understand their roles and responsibilities and have a firm understanding of all the procedures involved.

After conducting testing, incorporate any lessons learned or gaps that were discovered into your plan.

The FEMA website also has Business Continuity Planning Suite software that you can download to help your business create, improve or update your business continuity plan. The software includes a 30-minute video-based course to get you started. And that is an important step if your business does not have a BC/DR plan — get one started.

Look for me November 10 at 4:30 at the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. I’ll be discussing my book,  ”How Not to Hire a Guy Like Me: Lessons Learned from CEOs’ Mistakes.” The event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

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When Disaster Strikes: Creating a Business Continuity Plan

The pipes in the office on the floor above yours burst and your entire floor is flooded and all the computer equipment is destroyed. There is a weeklong ice storm that shuts down the power in your building and no one can work there until it is restored. There is a flu epidemic in your town and half your staff is unable to work for several days.

These are just a few among many events that could occur that could temporarily shut down your business. What would you do then? Do you have a business continuity plan?

In this two-part series we will cover what should be included in a business continuity plan and how you get started creating one.

You have probably also heard of a disaster recovery plan. That is essentially the same as a business continuity plan but because of our human nature and our “that can’t happen to me” mentality, business owners and CEOs often neglect to get around to creating one so the industry often uses the term business continuity plan instead. While there are some distinctions, the two types of plans are often referred to as BC/DR — business continuity, disaster recovery so that’s the term I’ll use.

I will address three elements that should be included in a BC/DR plan: how will employees communicate, where will they go and how they will continue to do their jobs. Let’s address each of these.

1. How will your business communicate?

Every business should have an emergency communication plan and a person designated to be in charge of declaring a disaster and implementing that communications system. Determine whom your business will need to communicate with: off-site employees, families, vendors, customers, emergency responders. Make sure you have up-to-date contact information for everyone and assess the availability of alternate means of communication, for example using your Facebook and Twitter account to communicate with the public on your situation.

In the old days, groups of people used to communicate with phone trees – a network of people to spread information, set up like a pyramid with one person calling two people, who each call two until everyone is notified. Set up a phone tree for your business as a back up in the event other types of communication are shut down.

2. Where will your employees go?

The most important rule in a BC/DR plan is people first. You must first secure everyone’s safety before moving on to the resumption of business operations. If the offices are not inhabitable the next issue is where the people and operations will go. The BC/DR plan needs to include a designated relocation area.

You will also want to have a teleworking policy in place for employees for whom that is appropriate.

3. How will your employees continue to do their jobs?

This step is obviously the critical one for the continuity of your business. Assuming you have a place to go and all your data backed up and available off-site, how will your employees access it?

The days of lining up desks and phone and getting back to work are over — getting the necessary systems up and working can be much more complicated these days. Your plan needs to include how you can get employees functioning again as soon as possible.

Creating an effective BC/DR plan is time-consuming and complicated. But your business really can’t afford not to have one. Next week we’ll discuss how to go about creating one.

Look for me November 10 at 4:30 at the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. I’ll be discussing my book,  ”How Not to Hire a Guy Like Me: Lessons Learned from CEOs’ Mistakes.” The event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

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Church Ladies Passing the Plate – to Themselves

Many ladies of the church devote countless hours of volunteer work to their congregations — arranging flowers, planning weddings, cooking food for gatherings and doing whatever it takes to service their congregations. But it seems that some of the ladies who work at the church are involved in another not so helpful activity. Stealing.

In my book, “How Not to Hire a Guy Like Me: Lessons Learned from CEOs’ Mistakes,” I tell the story of the church bookkeeper who stole money from one church and after being caught, moved to another state and stole millions from that church as well. Seems she is not alone.

Sharon Warunek won’t be going to her job at the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania any longer, after working there for 27 years. As office manager of the church’s Society for the Propagation of Faith, she opened all the checks people donated to benefit the poor. Instead of passing the money along to those who need it most, she instead used at least $340,000 to cover her monthly Discover credit card bill.

Jerri S. Hunter of Virginia managed to embezzle half a million dollars from the Chester United Methodist Church over the course of six years and faces 14 counts of embezzlement. And she wasn’t even caught while she worked there. After she was fired for an unrelated charge, volunteers who were handled tasks she previously performed found discrepancies in the numbers.

Although the Hilltop Lutheran Church in South Bend, Indiana, only had 120 members, the secretary and treasurer Jane Loprest managed to steal $119,000 in the eight years, taking it upon herself to double and triple her pay. She was smart enough to manage the accounts so the church was never overdrawn. Using surveillance photos from the church’s bank, postal inspectors determined she was writing checks but never issuing them, instead cashing them for herself. She is serving a year and a day in prison. At least she said she was sorry.

Sadly, ladies stealing from the church could form their own church circle — and have quite a few members. One out of eight fraud schemes involves a religious organization or other non-profit. And most of the thefts are committed by women.

The gender gap is fairly easily explained when you consider that women handle most of the bookkeeping jobs in the United States. They are the ones with access to the money. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2010, 90 percent of the bookkeepers in the United States were women.

But why churches, religious organizations and non-profits? These are the more vulnerable organizations. They have “have very weak control systems. They’re not operating on big budgets that allow them to spend money on accountants,” according to Chris Marquet, CEO of Marquet International, a security firm based in Boston that tracked worker embezzlement schemes over the past five years.

The lesson here is not to be suspicious of the kindly lady at the reception desk or the office manager at your church office. It’s a lesson for anyone that owns or runs a business, particularly a smaller one that doesn’t have an accounting department. Always take a look at your books and institute controls on financial transactions. Don’t make anyone even attempt to violate the seventh commandment with your business’s money.

Look for me November 10 at 4:30 at the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. I’ll be discussing my book,  ”How Not to Hire a Guy Like Me: Lessons Learned from CEOs’ Mistakes.” The event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

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Creativity Key to Conquering the Competition

One of the skills I need to rely on the most in my job as a turnaround authority is creativity. When I’m presented with companies that are in dire straits financially, with creditors pounding at the door, coming up with a creative solution that can work for everyone can be the answer.

So I love reading stories about business owner who came up with their own creative solutions. Here are three stories about using creativity to conquer the competition.

I recently read the obit for Robert Taylor. You may not know his name but I guarantee you’ve been using his product for decades and probably have several in your home right now.

Robert invented bottled liquid soap dispensed by a pump. Tired of the mess his bar of soap left on the counter, he knew he had hit on a good idea. Now that’s smart. But what he did next is even smarter.

Any inventor knows that if his product has a market, his idea can be copied and mass-produced. On “Shark Tank,” the show where entrepreneurs appear before investors looking for money for their inventions, that is often the first question asked. “What is to prevent someone else coming along and bringing the exact same product to market?” one of them will ask the hopeful inventors.

Robert anticipated that happening. So he borrowed $12 million and used that money to order 100 million little plastic pumps for his soap dispensers. Well, guess what? The back order on the pumps was so huge that any potential rivals could not get the part they needed to create their own product for at least a year.

Because he successfully cornered the market for so long, the worth of his brand increased. In 1987 he sold Softsoap to Colgate-Palmolive for $61 million.

Another clever gentleman figured out an innovative way to discourage shoppers at his appliance store from stopping at other stores to comparison shop after they left his. He bought a freezer and filled it with gallons of ice cream. As customers left, he gave them each a free carton. They were excited at the unexpected treat, and of course, had to rush straight home to put it in their freezers.

Urban Outfitters, which had $2.8 billion in sales last year, beat its competition by hiring artists rather than business people to manage their stores. While most retail establishments look the same whether you’re in New Mexico or New Jersey, every Urban Outfitter store looks different as the managers are given the freedom to arrange their stores as they see fit. The founders believed that their core demographic, college students, would appreciate the difference. And even better, if their strategy were successful, their more traditional competitors wouldn’t want to fire all their current managers to copy their idea. It worked. Sales at the retail giant continue to grow, with an increase of 13 percent last year.

If competition is proving to be a problem for the growth of your company, you may not need to change your product. Try being creative in your approach and see what happens.

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The 10 C’s of Borrowing for CEOs

In my last column, I gave tips on how to have a good relationship with your banker and understand his point of view. This week, I’d like to share my 10 C’s on how to borrow with honesty and integrity. Follow these tips and you’ll have the best chance of growing your business long-term as you further enhance your relationship with your banker and become a better borrower.

1. Character is of the utmost importance to bankers.

Bankers need to know you’ll do the right thing when your company is in distress. If they can’t trust you, they can’t put money in your hands. That doesn’t mean fake good character – it means have and demonstrate good character.

2. Carelessness comes down to poor record keeping.

Carelessness can also hurt your bank by causing it to write-off loans needlessly or even lose its federal loan insurance such as SBA Guarantees. Run your shop well, which includes good bookkeeping practices, regular audits, competent comptrollers, and mixing up your monitoring practices. You should also verify for yourself the details of your business’s financial situation.

3. Complacency is not an asset.

Banks are interested in how you react to tough situations. Don’t just tell them what you’re legally required to when they ask; keep them updated to avoid surprises. Bankers hate surprises. This is all a part of the larger principle of being proactive rather than reactive. Proactive business owners keep their banks appraised of the situation, which makes their banks more likely not to react to unfortunate circumstances by demanding payment on loans.

4. Contingency Plans are key for orderly succession if something happens to you.

Bankers value stability, and even though many business owners think they’re invincible, history has proven otherwise. Bankers are more comfortable if they know what will happen in the event that something bad happens to you – like disability or death (God forbid) and will continue to work with subsequent leadership. It’s also wise to introduce your banker to the future generation of leaders at your company.

5. Capital is your net worth (assets minus liabilities).

Bankers want an extra cushion of equity so they can be more flexible with your company in case it has a bad year. A CEO and a banker need to balance one another’s needs in order to maintain sufficient capital. I sometimes find that telling entrepreneurs, owners and CEOs to keep extra capital around is like telling a dog to save part of his dinner for later, but if you can show your banker that you’re capital-wise, he’ll be more likely not to call your loan after a bad year.

6. Collateral is a bank’s leverage and makes bankers feel more comfortable.

Collateral does not repay a loan, as many entrepreneurs think when they pledge their assets, but it does ease the banker’s mind.

7. Capacity is your ability to repay.

Bankers check to see if you have champagne tastes but a beer wallet. If you seem like you can repay what you’re asking for – which is to say, a reasonable sum and not your dream loan – you’re more likely to see the money. Shoot for the stars in life, but a bank loan is a different matter.

8. Competition works to your advantage.

Banks are concerned about their competitors’ interest rates, collateral packages and guarantees. You can use this to your advantage by doing your homework when seeking a loan and politely making that clear to your banker. Knowing about your bank’s competition can also let you prepare for a quick capital search should your banker pull out.

8. Controls are your built-in monitors.

Bankers want to know about your company’s controls. Do you have checks and balances for payroll clerks, controllers, CFOs and inventory personnel? Do you watch the back door? Outline the steps you take in your plans and conversations with your banker; ask for his recommendations. If you find an issue, correct it and then update your banker that you’ve fixed the problem.

10. Communication is essential.

Almost every one of these tips hinges on communication. Don’t keep things from your banker. If he knows what’s happening he can work with you instead of against you. Work with your banker for the best relationship.

With “The CEO’s 10 C’s of Borrowing” in mind you’ll be better equipped to understand where your banker is coming from and not get frustrated when things don’t seem to go your way. Talk with your banker and try to understand him. It will only be to the benefit of your business.

Look for me November 10 at 4:30 at the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. I’ll be discussing my book,  “How Not to Hire a Guy Like Me: Lessons Learned from CEOs’ Mistakes.” The event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

 

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Tips on Dealing with Your Banker

I’ve been on both sides of that big banker’s desk. Early in my career I worked as a banker, which gave me invaluable experience on learning how the money guys think. We learned the things that would make us fire CEOs and shut down companies.

These were lessons that were invaluable to me during my entire career as the Turnaround Authority. I know what bankers, investors and other creditors are looking for when they analyze a business. I know what they want to hear from CEOs and business owners.

Businesses need money to operate. That means they generally need bankers and investors — the money guys. But many CEOs treat their bankers as the opposition, like Mr. Potter, “the richest and meanest man in the county” in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Having a good relationship with your banker is so important, I devoted an entire chapter to it in my book “How Not to Hire a Guy Like Me: Lessons Learned from CEOs’ Mistakes,” which covers the 10 C’s of bank relationships for CEOS.

Here are just a few tips on how to have a good relationship with your banker. (For more info, you can always buy my book!)

1. Always keep your banker informed

Communication is one of the 10 C’s I discuss in my book and is the key to having a good relationship with your banker. We’ve all gone through difficult situations where we didn’t want to share bad news with someone, preferring to stick our head in the sand or hope the problem goes away. But not telling your banker when your company is having problems paying a vendor, collecting receivables or going through a cash flow crunch is the exact wrong thing to do. In fact, if your banker finds out you have not been disclosing crucial financial information, it can be the quickest path to having your bank loan called or to losing your financing.

2. Have contingency plans

Bankers and other money people like stability. They want to know you have a plan in place in the event that one of the 3 D’s happens — death, disability or disappearance. Yeah, I’ve had a few CEOs vanish on me. You can add that to the list of behaviors that won’t endear you to a banker.

While acting as CEO at one company I hosted a cookout with the employees. You’d be surprised what you learn while chatting around the grill. One employee mentioned excess inventory purchasing. Turned out it was a case of multi-million dollar fraud. The previous CEO knew something was wrong but didn’t deal with it. I found the problem and had four executives arrested. The CEO? Gone with the wind.

Do you know what will happen to your business if any of the three D’s occurs? Make a plan and show it to your banker.

3. Demonstrate good character

Do what you say you will do. Make your payments when they are due. Keep your banker informed. If you have and demonstrate good character your banker is more inclined to work with you, rather than against you.

The money people want to trust you — indeed, they are placing a great deal of trust in you when they close on that loan to your company. Make them happy they extended that trust.

A banker can be a powerful ally for your business. One of the best things you can do for your business is to have a good working relationship with your banker.

Look for me November 10 at 4:30 at the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. I’ll be discussing my book,  “How Not to Hire a Guy Like Me: Lessons Learned from CEOs’ Mistakes.” The event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information. Hope to see you there!