The 10 Day Turnaround. Darren Stephens

or of a new opportunity on completion of the business-building exercise. This book is for you, no matter the reason you decided to pick it up. A new direction and improved results await.

      The reasons that a business embarks on a turnaround plan are many and varied. However, it would probably be fair to say that during times of turmoil, hardship, or a tough economy, the vast majority of businesses embarking on a turnaround plan do so to stabilize, or even survive. That is why we look at an extremely short time frame in which to achieve this. It should take you no longer than ten days to come up with a powerfully clear, concise, and actionable plan to transform the business. Yes, that’s right - just ten days can be all it takes to turn your business around and set you on the track to greater success!

      If you have any doubt about the need to turn around your business today, bear this in mind: sooner or later you and your business will have to change. “Willing change” is better than “forced change”. The best time to create a turnaround in either your life or your business is when you can “choose to” and not when you “have to”. In order to have any chance of survival today, tomorrow and beyond, a business has to be “capable” of change. In order to succeed, that same business has to be “willing” to change.

      It’s important the choice to change be framed in a well thought-out plan of action. After all, doing something different doesn’t always mean it’ll be better; but doing something better than the status quo always involves doing something differently than you’ve done before or are doing now.

      By the time you reach the end of this book, you will have a solid plan in place to turn your business around. You’ll have systems and structures for implementing, evaluating, measuring and managing a more agile and responsive organization or business. You’ll have a clear vision, focus and strategy for the future of your company and yourself.

      What follows in this book should take you no more than 10 days to complete. Not 10 full days but ten days of attention, activity and strategic action. We’ve also included an evening to prepare you to begin your journey at the start of the book and a chapter to jump start you into action at the end of the ten days. You need to read one chapter each day and then do all, yes ALL, of the action points assigned on that day. The chapters, exercises, and activities aren’t designed to overwhelm you—they are geared toward helping you achieve clarity, focus and certainty about what you want, need, and will do to get your business where you want it to go and be.

      By the same token, do not try and race ahead to complete the book faster. You need to give each day and the tasks involved your full attention. Make room in your schedule for reading the book and doing the exercises and activities assigned. You’ll need to focus your time, energy and attention at least a couple of hours each day to read, think, plan and implement. In order to be successful with this book and enable it to serve you best, you’ll need to allocate the time. You’ll get out of this book what you put into it.

      How you free up the time is entirely up to you. Some people get up early; some stay up late. Other’s work a longer day or simply slate a couple of hours in their working calendar. If you simply can’t, won’t or choose not to set aside the time necessary to commit to your own success or business “turnaround”, it might be time to ask yourself the deeper questions of “why not?” and “how can I?”

      You might have to cancel some meetings. You might have to take a week off from TV or set aside a hobby for a week-and-a-half. You might have to explain to your family that you won’t be around quite as much or may not be as attentive or accessible for the next ten days. And your golfing buddies or social-circle might have to get along without you for the short-term, but you and they will be better served in the long-term by your new levels of success.

      This will be a time of deep concentration, strategic reflection and introspection, and newfound commitment for you and your business. Your turnaround depends on your focus over this time. Don’t think of the short-term inconvenience or disruption - think instead of the fantastic rewards that await you and your business as you successfully turn your business around, and accomplish all that in just 10 days.

      Now… it’s time to get busy!

      The Night Before - Mastering The 10 Day Mindset

      You’ve finished your work for the week. Have dinner… change into your casual clothes… and head for your home office, den or the neighborhood coffee shop. It’s time to kick-start your 10 Day Turnaround.

      In order to start your 10 Day Turnaround properly, there is a certain mindset you’ll want to master. Having the “right mindset” is vital to successfully implementing the turnaround plan. We want to begin your 10 Day Turnaround on a basis of clarity of intention and an accurate, unbiased assessment of what is and what can or should be.

      You have to get clear and be candid with yourself about your business. Clarity is power and it’s also the place where new possibilities exist and new probabilities reside.

      Let’s start with the following five key questions you’ll want to ask yourself and objectively answer as you start on Day One:

      1 What “is” happening now?

      2 What “was” happening before?

      3 What “could” be happening?

      4 What “should” be happening?

      5 What “would” be happening if…?

      Take some time and ask yourself each of the above questions. Answer each question in your mind and write a “snapshot” description as completely, but concisely as you can about the key areas, elements, circumstances and conditions of your business. This isn’t intended to be a comprehensive diagnostic but a solid assessment of the current reality and future possibilities. Think of this process in terms of creating a one-page assessment and not a wide-ranging prescription or complete cure to what ails your business just yet.

      The key here is to develop a baseline of “what is” and to shift your mind from what is and what was to “what will be”.

       The Turnaround Mindset

      Every action begins with a thought or an intention to make something happen.

      Effective action begins with effective thinking and focused intent. “right- thinking” creates “right-results.”

       With the right mindset

       you can do just about

       anything.”

      Before you do anything else, it is vitally important that you spend time right now ensuring that your frame of mind is right for what you want to achieve. Withoutthe right mental attitude, an effective focus and clear-headed thinking, your chances of success are marginal at best. With the right mindset, you can do just about anything.

      So what is the ‘right’ mindset? How do you go about changing your thinking or your focus if you’re not getting the results you want with your current frame of mind? Interesting question.

      Let’s start by thinking about what the ‘right’ mindset actually is. Mindset is a term that refers to a particular mental framework, a pattern of thinking, or a prevailing attitude about what is and what’s possible. It involves prejudices, expectations and beliefs and sums up the way your mind is positioned or your thinking is directed at a particular point in time. Whether it is right or wrong, correct or incorrect comes down to deciding how it fits with the task you want to apply it to and if you’re getting the results you want.

      Is your current way of thinking getting you the results you want in your business? Has your current set of beliefs, biases, and assumptions gotten you all of the rewards and returns you want or deserve? Has your current frame of mind and patterns of perception planted the seeds necessary for your future success? Maybe, maybe