Losses to Profits Series
Roll Up Your Sleeves & Fix the Problem!
ABC Hurricane Shutters, a Florida-based company, was on the verge of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, having recorded losses in each of the preceding three years. In From Red to Black: A Business Turnaround, Robert S. Curry shares his thought process, action steps, and profit improvement recommendations throughout his turnaround engagement at the shutter company. After Bob’s first meeting with the owner, he developed a detailed plan for recovery and was engaged the next day. Within four months, the company had made a complete turnaround with nearly every “must-do” completed. Thanks to Bob’s efforts, ABC was well on its way to becoming the most profitable hurricane shutter company in Florida.
While every business in distress is unique, Bob’s philosophy is that everyone in the company has to roll up their sleeves and work hard to fix the problems or find a new place to work. Effective communication is paramount. He begins every engagement by listening and says of this particular business turnaround, “I spent the first two weeks listening to managers and staff, all of whom had a perception of what was wrong with the company. My father told me a long time ago, ‘God gave you two ears and one mouth, so listen, and you will learn!’ And so that’s what I did—and always do.”
The takeaway lessons in this illustrative story are sure to spark your ideas on how to turn a troubled company around and help you take proactive steps toward financial stability and profit. As Bob always says, there is no substitute for a strong leader to make a company profitable. Read From Red to Black, and you will learn how to be that leader.
Book 1: From Red to Black
Losses to Profits Series
“ABC Computer Distributors”—a Pennsylvania-based company—was heading for bankruptcy due to poor leadership, causing substantial operating losses. In The Turnaround, Robert Curry accounts the actual events of this successful turnaround, describing the profit-improvement process he used to grow the company from losing almost $1 million on $48 million in sales to reporting $4 million in profit on $130 million in sales in nine months.
Bob wrote this book to demonstrate that one person can have an impact on a company. Not only an impact, but a significant impact—from substantial loss to substantial profit in just three quarters of a year. By eliminating nonproductive employees; generating operating budgets; implementing controls over spending; improving financial reporting; upgrading corporate policies, efficient communications, and procedures; and initiating corporate and personal goals, ABC Computer Distributors became profitable in the first thirty days of the turnaround.
In this book, Bob shares his profit-improvement skills and tasks with you so you can use them in your company or organization to improve your profits. Much of the turnaround of ABC Computer Distributor focused on sales growth and employee productivity. In Bob’s first book, From Red to Black: A Business Turnaround, the story of the turnaround focused on improving the management and operations. While both of these books are about turnarounds, they are unique, informative stories on how Bob made these organizations profitable.
Book 2: The Turnaround
Losses to Profits Series
Taking the High Road to Success
The owners of “ABC Off-Road Supply”—a company based in Ogden, Utah—were in way over the heads. They knew the technical side of the business, like installing a lift kit on a jeep, but neither knew the business side of how to manage a $6.3 million company. In The Turnaround 2: How “ABC Off-Road Supply” Went from Red to Black, Turnaround Specialist, Robert Curry shares the true story of how he taught ABC’s owners to run a multi-million-dollar business.
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Bob knows that companies these days must have a top-tier management team to be successful in today’s business environment. Internet marketing, technology, and price pressures from big online companies demand a strong management team—or the company will fail. And ABC Off-Road Supply was failing. What’s more, ABC’s recipe for disaster included a part-time bookkeeper, a confusing website, low morale and productivity among the sales team and technicians, an unappealing retail showroom and building exterior, an unsafe warehouse, and more than $700,000 in disorganized, excess inventory.
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As you’ll learn in this third book in Robert S. Curry’s Losses to Profits series, solving “surface” business issues like these isn’t enough to turn a business around. Even if resolved, there’s a good chance the same or similar problems will occur sometime down the road. A solid turnaround plan must investigate and solve the issues that caused the problems in the first place. Throughout this book, you’ll have a front-row seat during Bob’s step-by-step investigative process, coming away with essential business tips and strategies to navigate the road to financial success.
Book 3: The Turnaround 2
Losses to Profits Series
Book 4: From Red to Black 2
“And Now You Know…The Rest of the Story!”
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Robert “Bob” Curry returns with another business turnaround story about a manufacturing company, Utah Offroad Manufacturing, owned by a husband and wife. They were over their heads when it came to managing a $3 million offroad manufacturing company. Due to their complete lack of business knowledge and experience, the company was not profitable.
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Bob Curry’s initial consulting engagement was to help them find a buyer and negotiate the sale of their company. However, the company was in such poor condition, he could not in good faith sit down at a settlement table with an interested buyer and negotiate the sale. By first reorganizing their shop’s layout and appropriately staffing their business, Bob was able to help this couple turn their business around and eventually seal the deal. Also, he taught the owners how to portray themselves and embody the success they desired.
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This fourth book in Bob Curry’s Losses to Profits series features Bob’s first client in twenty-five years and he questioned whether or not this company could be turned around. The owners were so overwhelmed, they simply wanted to sell and walk away. In spite of all the challenges, though, Bob set another company on the road to success and helped them navigate their business From Red to Black.