How To Restructure A Company


幽幽鹿鸣/Yoyoluming

1. Insignificant changes lead to major changes

Start with attendance. It helps form a good routine and put pressure on those who have no sense of time.

2. Start from the top

Too often those on top who welcome changes are the ones who are blockers. Change their mindset first is vital. It takes time, effort, and determination.

3. Form positive energy

Get rid of those who make others uncomfortable. Encourage individuals who think creatively and critically to form group spirits to work with others. Value people's opinions, direct their energies to the company's goal.

4. Be personal

Don't be a poker face boss. Management is about forming healthy working relationship at work. If you don't care about employees, you will be deaf and blind. In the end you want to be remembered as a human who cares.

5. Rules

No one can play the game without the rules. Make realistic and applicable rules. Make necessary
adjustment and changes to make the rules enforceable and make sure rules apply to everyone.

6. Be positive

No matter what happens, you just can't be the most miserable. Remember to smile. To the end what matters is not what you do or what you own, it is your health and happy mood that matter
the most.

7. Don't make empty promises

Action is louder than words and people have memories and mouths.

8. Open minded

Learn from your past mistakes; from others; from books. But always remember the most valuable is to learn through practice with an open mind.

9. Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes. Don't repeat the same mistakes twice.

10. Forgiveness

Everyone derserves a second chance. No one should be given a third chance.

11. Taking the chance

It's not about achieving an impossible dream; it's all about doing what you can do in a better way.

Improvement should be continuous. To stop is to get behind. Opportunities come and go, be sharp, be quick, be efficient, be ready.

Re-structure, re-aim, re-start, re-adjust.


Oct. 2006
Kunming, China

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The Three M’s that Sink a Business---Misjudgment; Mismanagement; Misconduct (and they can all occur at the same time)

幽幽鹿鸣／Yoyoluming (January, 2007)

Explanation:

Case Study #17 since 1999.

Since this case is so non-typical, non-traditional and strange in every possible way, I’d like to leave it here to share with whoever has the opportunity to read it.

The two individuals involved in this case are real people (native born Americans) and are assigned as A and B (A is at least 25 years older than B), thus I use the words it/its as noun/possessive pronoun in description.

Reminder:

This is not a fabricated story and is not aiming at entertaining anyone.


Introduction:

I had been watching, listening, thinking for over two years since I met A by accident before I wrote the whole case, during which, I had the opportunity to uncover more details of the failed business and been making strong recommendations to A. Since now it is finally coming to a close, I decide to post it to remind the innocent and the not too experienced.

Background:

A, who had a somewhat successful career for a good number of years, is a family friend of B whose parents are both professionals and helped A for years in various ways. Filled with gratitude, A was persuaded by the parents into launching a business mainly selling imported perishable products with their son, B (now 35 years old).

Situation:

A invested at least $300,000 dollars of its own money with zero knowledge about the products but with enough confidence with and trust to B; who talks impressively with a persona much larger than life itself. B had failed though two previous start-up businesses, yes, also in imported perishable products. B had no other working experience elsewhere.

For some odd reason, A, as the sole investor, walked into the business with B but only held 35% of the shares of the business with the job title of being B’s secretary while B marching in the business with nothing but empty promises became the president of the company and held 65% of the shares.

What really happened:

According to A, as soon as the company was registered; the legal papers were signed; the account was set up… B began its shopping spree. During the first year of business operation, B blew up $90,000 dollars using the company’s (translation: A’s) credit card on personal items such as computer and office equipments (set up in B’s residence and recently repossessed by A), groceries, wines, meals, snacks…In order to better promote the business, A, encouraged by B, also paid people to design company logo, trade mark, packaging materials, website…The spending started; the purchase continued and the inventory began to grow... A and B went to various trade shows, presentations…But for some reason the market was just not opening its door to their products.

In over three years of their business operation, they had a total of about 15 major buyers; basically one in every one hundred days or longer. And each one owed the company money for delivered goods. The website was designed by professionals and operated from day one by B. But for reasons unknown it just didn’t have enough hits by visitors. In order to stay in business, B persuaded A to buy into an additional line of imported perishable product with total shaky health promoting claims. The total investment on this new line of product was about $160,000 dollars. A had to rent a warehouse for the product in bulk with quality problems but without customers. B repeatedly claimed that the market was forming and the line of buyers was getting long…

As president of the company, B’s job was mainly to be in charge of marketing and sales (after their limited sales, B could not collect payment from buyers). It staged elaborate and impressive presentations in front of potential customers at the cost of the company’s expanse, but afterwards few came to buy their products. Did B make the product too mysterious or did B give people the impression that it was beyond their comprehension? Or was B just not convincing enough to make sales happen? Was B using such opportunities to promote itself to secure its position in the business or did it just want to make sure that A got the impression that B was the best in the business and they had to work together? Was B using such opportunities to get attention from people that it normally couldn’t? And they always had trouble sending orders out on time.

B kept telling A exciting stories about growing possibilities about the profitable product and made sure A kept pumping in more investment money to sustain the operation. B even placed order for $80,000 dollars of new products (without telling A) when the old ones were stored as inventory (did B get a cut from such order?). In over three years A had basically lost the total investment in the “promising” business. A didn’t have enough knowledge about the products; about internet sales; about record keeping; about inventory; A has no skill in management; no vision or plan for the business; no control in the operation…A basically lost its sense of time and let B run the show at its free will.

The company never had established rules; without operation hours; A had no control over B and couldn’t enforce anything to get things done. All the customers who bought the products were A’s friends or through its connection. B turned itself into an entertainer and really enjoyed its VIP status wherever it went for presentation. No one from the outside knew anything about the growing internal problems.

I began to offer advice to A based on our conversations and my observation; A gradually began to reveal to me more details of the so-called business operation. It was very disturbing.

A business is based on reliable source of supply and the market. In between it’s connected with quality control, cost control, customer service; marketing strategies…I found none of the key elements in this business operation. Instead I found two irresponsible individuals who sit back to let all the opportunities disappear in front of them and B skillfully played the mind game to manipulate A from the beginning to end.


Is it fair to blame B for all the problems? Am I being fair to B since the above information came entirely from A? How much responsibility A needs to take for the failed business? Why couldn’t A solve the problems for two years watching and noticing the growing problems? What is the true reason that made A incapable of solving the problems for so long? Is fearful of losing its face among its inner circle friends a reason why A prolonged the problems? Are they both suffering from clinical depression? What lessons can each individual involved learn from this case?

For legal reasons I will not describe any more details about the ending results. It’s anyone’s guess. Trust and honesty are the key words in business. But also be watchful in managing your own business. One might not know everything from A to Z in business management, but one needs to learn the lesson from A and B in business operation.

邻居　
Neighbors

幽幽鹿鸣/Yoyoluming

我的紧邻是一对老年夫妇．老头矮胖，脑后梳着条小辫，整天早出晚归，不知是太喜欢工作还是太喜欢钱，还是宁愿一天不着家省得听老太太唠叨．反正我一个星期也难得见着他几面．

老太太人倒挺热情，早晚在门前牵着条脏乎乎的小狗，见了我总是客气地打声招呼，听得出，也看得出她对我的好奇．

这对无儿无女的老两口带着那只从动物收容所领来的哑巴小狗每天与我和睦相处，倒让我觉得很宁和．

一个月前的一天下午，我刚进家门不久就听见外边有人轻轻地敲门．开门一看，邻居老太太一手牵着小狗，一手拄着个拐杖．

＂帕特，你没事吧？＂

＂早上摔了一跤，单膝着的地．去医院拍了片子，医生说没事．＂

我一边安慰她，一边主动把她手里的牵狗绳接过来．

＂我去给你溜溜狗，你在家休息吧．＂

老太太挺感激的，不知说什么好．我倒没觉得这有什么大不了的．俗话说远亲不如近邻嘛．再说她总会康复的．

老太太的摔伤并没见起色．

一天早上帕特又来敲门，问我能否带她去看医生再拿些止痛药．我想帮人帮到底吧，反正在家闲着也没事．

按说好的时间我把车停在了门前．老太太上了车并没系安全带的意思，急得安全带警示灯不断鸣响催促．我只好告诉她不系安全带上了路万一让警察看见会被罚，老太太这才手忙脚乱地绑上了带子．我猛然意识到老太太一定是很少坐车出行，尽管老头刚买了辆新卡迪拉克．

老太太从医生那拿了药，依然每天央我帮她溜狗．我虽嘴上不说，心里开始有些不快；觉得这不是占便宜没够吗．医生都说了没事，你怎么还不住地乱喊疼呢？再说那老头子怎么甩手大爷似的不闻不问成天让老太太像个囚徒蹲在家里呀．我的结论是，这老太太惯于使心机操纵别人．识破了她的唯有她丈夫．于是我也不像以前那么准时帮她溜狗了，总得让她自己知道事事还是要靠自己．俗话说得好，久病床前无孝子，更何况我一个识破了她的陌生人．在这社会里热心肠未必有好报啊．

昨天我刚从外边回来老太太就给我打来了电话．我叹了口气，无奈地摇着头再过去助人为乐．

推开门，老太太像往常一样坐在前厅的沙发里．家里乱得不成样子，塑料盘子，纸杯子．．．胡乱地堆积如山，屋里一股熏人的臭味．我见老太太气色不大好，问她是否觉得不舒服．她说早上起来后拄着拐棍扶着墙从卧室走到前厅就一直坐在那里没动过窝，饭也没吃．我一听连忙回家从冰箱里把剩饭菜给她盛了一盘用微波炉热好端过去．任何人都不应该在自己家里坐着挨饿．

＂帕特，也许这不是肌肉拉伤，一个月了我没见你有起色，还是换个医生再检查一下吧．＂我心想如果没大事恐怕得找心理医生了．我让她给她丈夫打电话先弄清楚保险公司是否允许换医生，故意吓唬她说这么着拖到冬天对她健康很不利．

近四点，杰，那脑后梳小辫的丈夫，意外地打来了电话．

＂嘿，邻居，帮我个忙，等会我到了家，你过来帮我把帕特弄上车，我带她去看医生．＂

我满口答应，心想你早带她去看医生能给我省多少事啊．

下午五点，我算着老头应该回来了，过去敲开了他们的家门．老太太脚肿得穿不上鞋，眼泪汪汪的说上不了老头的车．老头大概本来就不信老太太有什么大碍，开始满口脏字地数落老太太．两个人像孩子一样在我面前唇枪舌剑，各不相让．我尴尬地站在那觉得自己简直就是没事找事给自己添乱．

帕特要叫救护车，杰死活不让．说叫一回收好几百不值，还是上他的车，几分钟就到医院了．老太太开始哭着央求老头，说你什么要求我都可以满足，就是上不了那车，因为实在站不起来，走不了．．．

当着我的面，杰不好发作，脸上红一阵白一阵，很是难看．最后只好打了报警电话．对方一听不是紧急情况，说马上派救火队员过去帮忙．时间不长，一辆救火车呼啸着来到了房前．三个五大三粗的汉子下了车，问明情况，倒也没费什么力气就把老太太用椅子抬出了屋放进了杰的车里．

他们走后，我长出了口气，晚饭吃得特香．

晚上十点多，外边有人不住地按门玲．我心想准是他们回来了，让我帮忙把老太太从车上卸下来．

是杰站在门外．

＂他妈的，那该死的大夫！这回重新拍了张片子发现帕特股骨折了！整整一个月呀，难怪她老喊疼．这他妈的不是害人吗！＂

我大张着嘴，被这意外的消息惊得哑口无言．

＂医生收帕特住了院，怕感染马上就用上了抗生素，明天一早作手术．＂杰嘴里刁着雪茄，一脸的愤怒．

＂应该告先前那个草菅人命的江湖大夫．＂我也义愤填膺了．

＂哼，饶不了他，差点要了我老婆子的命啊．＂

我们两人站在房前作义愤状．那叶子已经变黄的树随着阵阵微风不时把一两片叶子抖落在地上．

＂邻居，多谢你啊，是你救了帕特的命．＂

＂我．．．＂我有点举足无措了．

＂我知道你不会收钱．但我一定会报答你的．＂杰紧紧地握住我的手，眼睛有些湿润, 显得有些内疚...

今天在街上溜完瞎了一只眼的哑巴狗，我忽然决定晚上要到医院去看看刚做了手术的帕特，让她尝尝刚买的月饼．

今晚的中秋月一定很大，很亮，很圆．


２００６年１０月６日，中秋节
于芝加哥