A recent New York Times blog and a business book published last year cover the same territory: the many ways you can kill off your business. The former is written from the perspective of the entrepreneur; the latter takes a corporate manager’s viewpoint.
From Luke Johnson’s FT column:
A recent New York Times blog and a business book published last year cover the same territory: the many ways you can kill off your business. The former is written from the perspective of the entrepreneur; the latter takes a corporate manager’s viewpoint.
Entrepreneur Jay Goltz’s blog post – “Eleven easy ways to destroy your company” – includes warnings against such things as not carrying enough insurance or hiring the wrong accountant.
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The book, The Ten Commandments for Business Failure, is by Donald Keough, former president of Coca-Cola. It identifies errors such as ceasing to take risks, isolating yourself. being inflexible and loving bureaucracy.
Both are full of sound advice and I was inspired to draft my own version of “How to murder your company in 10 easy steps”.
1. Take on too much debt. Companies usually go bust because they owe the bank too much. If you have no borrowings, you can survive a lot. We have lived through an era where it made sense to borrow and buy if you could; now everything has changed, and certain lenders are taking no prisoners. If there are problems looming, move early to raise capital. If you leave it too late, there may be nothing left to save.
To read the full story, visit ft.com
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