Most businesses experience some level of fluctuations in their revenue and earnings. Especially when reinvesting in the business or entering new markets losing money isn’t necessarily a reason to immediately panic. But if your company is experiencing unrelenting decline, then it might be time to make some hard decisions.

Causes of Revenue Decrease or Declining Profits

No two companies are alike. Each company succeeds—or fails—in its own unique way. One things all businesses have in common, though, is the need to turn a profit. Richly valued companies such as Netflix, Amazon, and Tesla may fail to turn a profit for years and remain viable, but this is not a realistic plan for most businesses.

Entering the red zone could occur abruptly, due to sudden market changes that the management team fails to anticipate or properly respond to. Failure can also be more insidious, based on early bad decisions that unfold over time. Businesses can even fail as a result of too much success as they rapidly grow and over-expand without a strategic plan.

Specific reasons why businesses get on the wrong financial track include

• Leadership failure
• Lacking a strong or unique value proposition in a crowded marketplace
• Underperforming or nonexistent marketing initiatives
• Ineffective pricing strategy
• Poor financial management
• Lack of capital or funding
• Excessive overhead
• Company’s reputation suffering from poor customer experience
• Sudden disruption in the marketplace from a competitor
• Cost increases for raw materials and goods

Many owners and management teams end up heads down working on the day-to-day business, but often are missing the perspective to catch these flags. Everything from customer satisfaction to misalignment of product or service with market need, operational inefficiencies, or inflated costs could lead to problems down the road.

InterimExecs’ Rapid Executive Deployment (RED) Team matches companies with interim executives who are turnaround experts. Our C-suite interims have experience fixing declining revenue and failing organizations across industries from healthcare and manufacturing to consumer goods and technology. They can hit the ground running within days to identify the root cause of trouble and provide solutions for declining revenue, that put your company back on the upward curve.

If the current executive team presided over a period of decline, it may not be reasonable to expect that they’ll turn things around. Interim executives bring a fresh set of eyes that put problems into focus and spot issues that were hiding in plain sight.

A Solution for Declining Revenue: The Interim Executive

No matter the cause of revenue loss or declining profits, it is crucial that businesses promptly identify it and create an action plan. How a business responds to signs of trouble makes all the difference. Having a capable, steady hand at the wheel in a difficult time ensures that a sideways slide does not become an out-of-control spin.

Recognizing that you don’t have the internal skills to make needed changes is the first step in the turnaround process. Finding an interim executive who has the right skillset is the next step. Once that individual is onboard, the real work begins. Usually, the problem-solving process for declining sales or earnings looks something like this:

1. The interim executive begins with an assessment of the company that allows them to get a full picture of the situation. This deep-drive into the business dynamics includes looking at financials, operations, people, culture, technology, market, and stakeholders. It involves talking to not only owners and investors, but also people on the ground involved with day-to-day operations.
2. After assessing the company, the interim sets out a strategic roadmap and action plan with specific milestones to be achieved. At this stage, it’s important to make sure that everyone is on the same page moving forward, and to set clear expectations about additional expertise or money needed to meet the stated goals.
3. Ownership gives the green light. The interim executive implements the action plan.

After an interim CEO, CMO, or another c-suite executive develops and implements a strategy that resolves revenue issues, their work is not done. Interim assignments also entail positioning the organization for long-term success. The interim might train and mentor an internal resource to step into the role at the project’s completion or assist with an external candidate search. They might furthermore lay out an action plan for the future, since what worked yesterday or today will not always work tomorrow.

Interim executives guide organizations that require new leadership during a time of growth-oriented change. Interims can be mobilized in a matter of days to develop and implement a scalable business growth strategy.

Interim CEO Case Study:
The business arm of a Native American Tribe owned 17 portfolio companies. In the mix were both high performers and others that needed some outside help. An Interim CEO stepped in to provide strong leadership, assess which companies could be improved, and then implement an action plan to turn the tribe toward strong profitability.  READ MORE >

Interim Executives Deliver Real Results, In Real Time

These days, more and more middle market companies are utilizing interim executives for short-term, fast-results assignments. An interim is unique in the depth and breadth of experience they bring to bear. And because they are measured on only one thing—results—they offer a viewpoint that is unobstructed by politics, bureaucracy, or the way things were done in in the past.

InterimExecs has screened thousands of executives from dozens of countries to serve on the RED Team. At a moment’s notice, turnaround specialists are ready to jump in and throw a lifeline to a struggling organization. They’ve been through these situations before and can make significant changes very quickly.

Not sure if an interim is a fit for you? We offer a free evaluation that determines the exact type of leadership or solution you need to recover financially. Then, we match you with an executive or team to explore conversations and create an action plan moving forward.

To see if an interim executive is a fit, call 1-847-849-2800 or contact us.