In this book I have offered a series of actions that will lead to increased profitability for any size corporation. The greatest frustration for a consultant such as me is to give advice knowing it will yield success, yet watch the client not follow through or implement the suggestions.

I have been fixing and improving companies for over 30 years, and the advice I have given in these pages really works. I have utilized these methods time and time again in real-life situations to fix troubled companies and the results speak for themselves.

In the introduction to this book, I stated that the greatest single management problem was failure to react to changing conditions, or in short “inertia.” Another problem is that each of the recommendations I have made requires some effort to implement and certainly discipline to continue using over time. The toughest problem is convincing others that the studies and changes I propose are worth the effort and will work.

I recently assisted a company in identifying a key problem with its sales force. The solution was to add some key personnel immediately through the use of executive search. The company had previously tried some hit-and-miss search methods, but there was a very large fallout rate due to poor initial screening. The cost was going to be high, but I helped negotiate a very low rate considering what we were asking the recruiter to do. Because of cost factors, the CEO decided to return to his old method of search, which we knew was a failure.

The company was bleeding cash and another mistake in judgment would probably kill it. The CEO, I believe, had made that mistake. My failure was in not being able to convince him that my advice was correct and that he should have the courage to follow it.

In the case of the jewelry company in Chapter 5, it took over two years to convince middle management that pricing changes would not only be beneficial but would not erode volume if done correctly. In that instance the CEO was convinced and had the perseverance to push the concept of niche pricing down into the organization so that it would be implemented. The jewelry company recently sold to a buyer for 300 percent more than the stock was worth when we started.

Hedge funds and distressed company purchases depend on this inability of managers to modify their behavior. They step in; provide capital and managers who will solve problems; and end up with a viable, salable company.

I have provided you with a distillation of action steps that can make a company more profitable. It takes a combination of guts, perseverance, and energy to use them, but I am sure that you will be pleased with the results.