The 10 Day Turnaround. Darren Stephens

personal growth, people such as Dr. Richard Bandler, John and Kathleen LaValle, Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn, John Overdurf, Julie Silverthorn and Anthony de Mello helped light our path along the way.

      In philosophy and spirituality, Dr. Wayne Dwyer, Sri Sai Kaleshwara Swami, the Dalai Lama, Eckhart Tolle, Carlos Castaneda, Marianne Williamson, Ram Dass, Ken Wilber and Miguel Ruiz have served as guides along the path of living and growing.

      In health, wellness and relationships, Jackie Tallentyre, Dr. John Gray, Andrew Weil, Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Mehmet C. Oz, Robert A. Johnson, Jon Kabat-Zinn and Leo Buscaglia have been important teachers, speakers and authors who have helped us grow.

      Most significantly, we’d like to thank Fletcher and Carole Searle, John Gearon, Michael Dean, Luke Raisbeck, Narelle and Jason Urbanowicz, Darren Tagg, Lyndon David, Kevin Stephens, Jeni Stephens, Colin Frankel, Larry Lindt, Mel Kerr, Brian Gerhart, Fred Martin, Paul Dwyer, Manny Goldman, Brendon Bruchard, Debra Kezer, Maria Davis, Vanessa Pedzwater and “Big Bill” McKee for their support, contribution, advice and counsel throughout our lives and careers.

      A huge “thank you” to our awesome publisher Global Publishing Group and to the amazing team at Dennis Jones & Associates; Dennis, Joel, Jeff and Janet—thanks for the dedication and commitment to the book’s success.

      And finally, we thank our students and joint venture platinum partners for their ongoing support and trust in allowing us to guide them to future success.

      Table Of Contents

      Foreword

       Introduction - The Night before

       Chapter 1 Day 1 - Planning For Change Chapter 2 Day 2 - Planning For Change Chapter 3 Day 3 - Leadership and Management Chapter 4 Day 4 - Cutting Off the Past, Creating a New Present Chapter 5 Day 5 - Assessing Where You Are Chapter 6 Day 6 - Planning Key Actions Chapter 7 Day 7 - “Core” Fitness Chapter 8 Day 8 - Making the Right Decisions Chapter 9 Day 9 - Creating Accountability Chapter 10 Day 10 - Creating Instant Wins Conclusion The Morning After - Sharing Your Findings With Your Team Final Thoughts About the Authors Recommended Resources

      

Foreword

      Most businesses are destined to fail. It’s a documented fact.

      This is a book about how to ensure that your business isn’t one of them.

      The “turnaround artist” is one of the most admired, feared and well-compensated individuals in the business world. That’s the person who can analyze a business, make the tough decisions and save the company… or take a thriving company and help it reach new heights.

      Many businesses need a turnaround artist to keep them from the brink.

      But what if you can’t afford to hire one of these individuals?

      Or you don’t have time?

      Better still, what if you could turn your own business around - and do it in just ten days?

      That’s the premise of this book. In these pages, we will teach you how to perform a turnaround of your business - in just ten days - without interrupting your current responsibilities.

      Start your turnaround process on a Friday night, work through the weekend, continue during the evenings of the following week, spend the next weekend completing your turnaround plan, and then you’ll put it into action on the following Monday. Over the course of the next week and a half, you will be investing approximately twenty hours on your business turnaround. This will be a concentrated time of study and investigation that will be personally, as well as professionally, invigorating.

      Your business will thrive as never before. And you can take those same turnaround skills and apply them to other businesses… for a very handsome fee or even a piece of the action.

      Who needs a 10 Day Turnaround?

      Businesses on the edge of survival, of course. And if you’re in that category in today’s economy, you’re not alone. Even in strong economies, some businesses struggle due to stiff competition, shifts in the marketplace, or changes in governmental regulation.

      But businesses on the brink of a new level of success also benefit from the 10 Day Turnaround. They get to play a bigger game and create bigger results for their stakeholders. Every business can use a tune-up—and some are ready to make that quantum leap towards a higher level.

      Turnarounds save businesses. They also create the energy for successful businesses to reach new goals and dreams.

      So whether you’re on the edge of disaster or on the cusp of massive new success, this book is for you… as long as you’re willing to invest two weekends and a week’s worth of evenings in your business’s future.

      Every year, more and more companies go out of business.

      Perhaps it’s the sheer number of businesses “in business” that makes that number increase. Maybe it’s the weak economy. Or could it be something else, like tougher and tougher competition? It just might be the speed of change that every person or business faces on a daily basis. It’s probably a combination of these factors!

      Perhaps the business started off as a great idea or an entrepreneurial dream, and somewhere along the way the course shifted and what was intended never came to fruition or simply stagnated over time.

      The reasons why businesses stall, wilt, wither, or simply don’t reach their potential aren’t as important as getting them moving again — back on the path of progress and restarted on the road towards growth and profitability. Not every business stands at the pole of an extreme, but a turnaround will serve to nourish enterprises along every grade of the scale.

      That’s why you are here and why we are here - to turn around your business and get back to the course you’ve always intended to take.

      As you read this book, you will be sharing in the wisdom the two of us have gained over our years in business. We have worked with business ventures of every kind, condition and category; the examples and methods we use will help remind that, no matter the desperation of your current status, you are not alone. If you are looking at creating a model to transform your business from simple success to stunning success—we’re here to help.

      Get ready for the ten days that will change your business… forever.

      Yours in Success

      Spike and Darren

      Introduction

      Most people seem to believe that success in business is hard in good times and next to impossible in tough times. Yet if you look around, you’ll see that in good times or bad, business gets done and companies thrive.

      Believe it or not, you have more control over the future of your business than you might imagine - regardless of the economy, competition, or your own marketplace. You and you alone control the destiny, the future, the performance and profit-potential of your business. This isn’t to say that every business will always do well, yours or anyone else’s. It doesn’t mean you aren’t, can’t or won’t be affected by challenges or changes in the future. Far from it.

      But it does mean that the decisions you make and the actions you take or don’t take have the most significant impact on your survival or success in business.

      During times of prosperity and in a surging economy, many companies do incredibly well, some even in spite of themselves.