Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / Turn Around Your Business with Ted Santos

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Turn Around Your Business with Ted Santos · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

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  Most people don't realize most m and a's fail because they never realized the intent the
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  intended value.
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  Of the at of the acquisition.
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  And it's because human beings don't work together.
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  You can integrate financial structures, IT structures, operations.
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  But when it comes to people and their turf wars, that becomes a big challenge.
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  0 ignition, liftoff.
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  Ending small business failure.
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  Welcome to the small Biz chat podcast with the number one small business expert, Melinda
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  Emerson.
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  Melinda's goal is to end small business failure.
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  And she'll give you the information you need to succeed and live the life you dream of.
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  Now here's your host, the small Biz chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
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  Have you subscribed to the small bizchett podcast?
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  Well, it's time every Wednesday, we offer listeners, bite sized actionable tips to start
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  and grow a successful small business.
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  And just 20 minutes or so a week, you can get a ton of insight and resources to propel your
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  business forward.
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  Be sure to subscribe to the Small Bridge podcast today.
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  Welcome back to the small biz chat podcast.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson's small biz lady, your host, and I hope you are watching us on my
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  small biz lady Facebook page or our YouTube channel.
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  If you know a topic that you would love for us to talk about, leave it in the comment and, of
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  course, subscribe and share.
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  We want more people to have access to this great information to grow their business.
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  Now it's time for me to introduce My next guest, we're talking about business turnarounds
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  with my guest, Mister Ted Santos.
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  He is skilled at reinventing companies that over the past 25 years, He's reinvented himself
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  several times.
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  He has experienced as a sales trainer, executive manager, entrepreneur, and executive
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  coach, and he's currently Chairman and CEO of turnaround investment partners in New York
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  City, which provides high value consulting services to mid sized and large companies.
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  Mister Santos coined the term disruptive leadership model, which is designed to empower
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  companies to innovate and penetrate untapped market.
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  It uses this proprietary methodology to work with CEOs who are committed to driving
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  innovation at the inner prize level.
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  For more information, head over to turn around dip.com.
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  Ted, welcome to the small business chat podcast.
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  Thanks for having me.
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  It's my pleasure to be here.
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  Alright.
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  So you gotta tell me your backstory because it sounds like you've had ten jobs that you've
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  probably filed the right one.
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  So Tell me, how did you get started as a turnaround specialist?
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  Actually, I was doing it and didn't know I was doing it.
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  I was hired at a company as a salesperson, and I kept saying to the the company was Braun so
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  fast.
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  It was unsustainable.
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  So in the sales meetings with the president.
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  I kept saying, why don't we do this?
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  Why don't we do that one day?
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  He said, hey.
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  Do you think you can run this company better than me?
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  And I said, yes.
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  You chuckle and said I'll give you a shot.
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  You have 30 days.
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  And if you don't do it, I wanna I don't wanna hear anything from you.
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  And after 2 weeks, he said the job is yours.
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  So That that wasn't turned around in the way people think, but the company was going to
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  crash and burn at the rate it was going.
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  So it was really about stabilizing organizational structures.
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  And then years later, I found myself in a company that was severely underperforming.
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  3 years of dropping revenues and that was your typical turnaround.
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  The 2 companies had something in common was that the organizational structures could not
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  support where they won the business to go.
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  So that was really about driver revenues, finding new services, and that sort of thing.
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  So that it it started from me not knowing I was doing it, except I was doing.
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  Can you share some of the key strategies that you employ when you're actively, you know,
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  trying to transform, an organization with a client?
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  Sure.
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  Well, if you want to turn around, you really It's really about driving sales.
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  I mean, everyone knows sales is the lifeblood of of your company.
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  I have a philosophy It it revolves around disruptive leadership.
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  And the philosophy is if you're the CEO and you are not intentionally creating problems who
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  should be fired or retrained immediately.
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  That's interesting.
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  Why don't you tell me a little bit more about that?
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  I'm like, what?
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  Should be creating problems for your people to solve, which means that you are creating chaos
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  in some ways and need to be able to navigate your people through that.
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  So, it's better probably to give an example.
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  Stig Jobs is probably a great example of someone disrupted the organization.
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  I mean, just imagine you make these big computers that cost you know, $2000 $1500,
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  $2000 or more.
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  And he says we're going to make a device that has a 1000 songs on people are wondering, is he
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  high?
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  What, you know, did you smoke something good?
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  Why are we doing this?
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  Why are we competing in a business that has nothing to do with us?
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  Except that disruption, that problem he created caused them to perhaps have to find new vendors
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  you had to use same technology you already had and miniaturize it and do things that there was
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  no for which there was no blueprint.
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  So when they created the iPod, they now had new skills and competencies that they could have
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  never gotten without the problem you created.
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  So is that your disruptive leadership model?
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  Is that was that what that is?
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  Absolutely.
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  And To create disruption, one of the things that you have to deal with is these
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  presuppositions that you have about what can and cannot be done.
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  So if he says put a thousand songs on her device, people will tell you all the reasons
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  why it can't be done, even though they haven't even tried it.
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  So if you think about it, most disruptive technology comes from outside your industry.
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  Technically, Sony There's no reason Sony was not the company to create the iPod first, but
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  they already knew what they did.
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  They knew what they knew, and they knew it well, and they just kept doing more better or
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  different of the same thing.
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  And you could say that's what our business business model is really about if You do more
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  of this.
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  You do it better or you do it different.
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  And it's someone outside your industry who has a perspective and doesn't have the limiting
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  beliefs and blind spots you have that they'll make that quantum leap and create the break.
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  So tell me about a
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  company that you've actually worked with that you help sort of, like, reinvent themselves
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  from this disruptive leadership model.
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  So first, I would never talk to a company about reinvented.
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  True innovation is about inventing.
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  Not reinvent.
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  Reinventing is about having improvement.
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  So breakthroughs breakthroughs, you can say found in this domain of things you didn't know.
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  You didn't know.
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  So I worked with a company that was started by the grandfather.
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  It's a family run business.
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  Started in 1930, and they make bread.
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  They make food, consumable items.
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  Internet started off their retail, then son in law took over the business, and he put it in
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  the commercial world, and now the grandsons are running the business and they've always made
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  their own products under their own brand.
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  What they had never done was do something called co packing cool manufacturing, which
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  means you are now making products under someone else's brand, and that grew the business sold
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  fast that it was incredible.
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  So it didn't destroy what they were already doing, which was making their own brands.
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  In some ways, It helped them with their own brands because it helped them look at other
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  snacks and things they had never done.
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  Maybe they wanted to do, and now they knew that they could what to to co pack met.
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  You needed new equipment.
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  You had to betray your people.
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  You had you had to alter your financial systems to look at margins.
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  So That was a breakthrough, and it was something they wanted to do and didn't know how
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  to do it.
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  That sounds great.
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  It's almost like they'd freed up excess capacity to do other stuff.
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  You know, by by co packing their main product.
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  That that sounds really good.
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  So often I read that you believe that if if the business doesn't have the right leader, really,
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  a turnaround really can't happen.
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  So what what are the key traits you think of a 6 successful, you know, turnaround leader.
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  So the turnaround leader, one of the things that they are responsible for is creating a
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  high performing culture.
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  And one is is the first one we've already talked about, not being afraid to cause
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  disruption.
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  The second is You as CEO is responsible for creating an environment that allows people to
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  perform at a at a high level.
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  Which includes people sometimes failing.
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  So if you have failure as, hey.
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  If we we can't fail or you're fired, people are won't push the envelope and they won't go
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  beyond they won't create the iPad.
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  They'll just do more better or different, which is probably what got you into trouble in the
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  first place.
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  So I and I'm and I'm trying to think of a company that sorta threw their hat over the
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  wall and just did whatever it took to get it even.
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  Oh, Chrysler is a perfect example with the mini bat.
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  They were in trouble.
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  They were failing, and Leah Acoca said, you know, we're not going to make a step station
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  wagon on steroids.
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  We're gonna make a mini.
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  We're gonna make a van that's mini, and it's for families, and it was a huge risk and they
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  took it, and it worked.
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  And it it allowed them to dominate market share with many vets.
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  No.
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  I I remember all
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  of that.
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  So what are your methods to turn around for performing employees?
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  So oftentimes, and I know, your other guest was talking about stories.
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  But oftentimes, people had stories in their hit.
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  So when I talked about how and industry can have presuppositions about what can't be done.
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  A lot of times people have stories in their head about the boss or about the company in
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  slight Well, what we can't and can't do.
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  And I it you didn't have to tire this big consulting firm.
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  I knew that information, but I it's like, I'm not going to tell you because you're not going
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  to reward me.
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  So people often make up things in their head about what they what they think their limits
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  are.
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  And sometimes, almost all the time, a lot of their limits in their blind spots are the
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  result of some past event in their life that has created a mental barrier, and they can't
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  break through it.
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  That's really an an important point Can you share some of your challenges or or obstacles
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  that you've you've discovered as you try to help with business, you know, sort of like
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  transform itself?
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  An obstacle.
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  So I worked with a company that had a very aggressive acquisition strategy.
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  The, CEO bought about 8 companies in a very short time period, and now he needed them to
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  integrate as one organization.
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  And they were competing with 1 another instead of working with 1 another.
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  So they were all selling almost to the same person in an organization where they wouldn't
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  share leads.
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  They wouldn't talk to one another.
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  And so people call post integration strategy, but most Most people don't realize most M and
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  As failed because they never realized the intent the intended value of the at of the
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  acquisition.
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  And it's because human beings don't work together.
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  You can integrate financial structures, IT structures, operations, but when it comes to
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  people and their turf wars, that becomes a big challenge.
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  And and once again, like, the last question.
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  A lot of times, people have stories about the other peoples and the other country companies
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  and management.
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  And sometimes you may take, in this case, this gentleman bought a company and the CEO was
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  running a $6,000,000 business, but now he's going to be the head of a $40,000,000 division
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  which meant he needed a different mindset and skills competencies to be able to run this
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  larger enterprise.
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  Well, how did you balance sort of, like, the need for innovation and disruption with the
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  importance of maintaining a stability and continuity within an organization.
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  What do you mean creating a problem and not destabilizing everyone so much that they fall
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  apart.
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  Like, that kind of thing.
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  That's exactly what I'm saying.
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  Yep.
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  So that that is that is the part of why so many breakthrough initiatives fail in organizations
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  because they don't do that.
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  People know what can't be done as I I was saying.
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  And they often run out of time and they run out of budget because people spend so much time
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  thinking about why this is so difficult.
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  Why are we doing this?
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  And then their competitor does it, and they have to play catch up.
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  So one of the things that works so in that business where I said they had, a lot of
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  acquisitions You find champions in the company.
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  That's one way.
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  And these people may not have a title as leader, but people look to them because they
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  have some level of leadership skills, and and you create others.
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  So I often ask people to do things that they've never done and don't know how to do and they
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  may spend some time trying to convince me that I'm overestimating them and they can't do it.
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  But when you talk them through I need you to accomplish this and they do it.
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  They come back with an accomplishment.
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  They didn't think they could do, and they have a level confidence that they would have never
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  had in the past.
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  So if you do that throughout your organization and have people work on things, They'll they'll
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  accomplish a, and then you can get them to to b and c, and you can get them to a much higher
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  level, but they didn't know they could get there before.
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  I love it.
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  I love it.
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  I I so completely agree with what you are saying.
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  And when we come back on the small bizhette podcast, we're gonna be talking more with Ted
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  Santos.
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  About her around your business.
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  We'll be right back.
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  Stay with us.
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• 14:42
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  Yeah.
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  That's you.
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  Welcome back to the small biz chat podcast.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson's small business lady, your host, and we're talking with Chezantos about
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  reinventing a business, turning around a business, and all that jazz, Ted.
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  Okay.
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  So help me.
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  How do these strategies that you talk about work within a sales organization, like the
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  skills with mindset and and shifting to penetrate an untapped market.
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  That's the sales organization's job And how how do you
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  help them get there?
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  So your sales team is really important in this thing because they are the ones who can ask
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  your customer.
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  They're the front line with the customers, and they can learn to ask questions about
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  possibilities that maybe the operations team doesn't, see So whether it's services that
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  you're giving away free, that you can charge, or they may see a new service in existing
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  clients, which opens up completely new markets.
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  So what about an aspiring entrepreneur, like a new entrepreneur with a smaller company?
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  Maybe they have 1 or 2 employees, maybe one in sales person, how can these people employ some
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  of these same strategies that you talk about to reinvent or reinvigorate their business so that
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  competition doesn't come and swallow them up.
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  So never be afraid to ask your people to do something they don't know how to do.
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  That's part of coaching.
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  So as a CEO, you want to always thinking about coaching your people up so you can make
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  yourself obsolete.
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  So whatever you do today as a CEO, it's best if you're not doing the same exact thing a year
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  from now, So strategic delegation, asking your people to do things.
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  They don't know how to do.
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  Builds up their confidence and allows them to support you in ways that you can't imagine.
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  I love that.
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  I love that so much.
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  And then lastly, what is the best business advice that you've ever been given?
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  I have a great network of CEOs that I know, and the former CEO of Dun And Bradstreet, one of
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  and many of the conversations we've had He said when you have your direct reports, you ideally
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  want someone who can do 95% of their job without any input from you.
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  It's that 5% that they come to you and they need support resources to get that done.
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  If they if they are coming to you for More than 5% you may have the wrong person in that
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  position.
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  I like that.
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  I'd like that.
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  That's very, very wise.
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  Thank you so much Ted for all of your valuable advice and stay with us.
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  We're gonna pull you back in a minute.
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  But next, we're gonna be talking with a small business expert who's gonna teach us all how to
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  boost our brand.
• 17:39
  You're watching the small butchett podcast, and we will be right back.
• 17:46
  Way to unleash your inner entrepreneur, the small business lady university, one day virtual
• 17:51
  startup boot camp is on January 16th, 2024, and it's the launch pad you've been waiting for.
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  register now at smallbizladyuniversity.comforward/startupbootcamp.
• 18:11
  Your big break is calling.
• 18:19
  Thanks for listening to the small biz chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
• 18:24
  Subscribe to this podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts, and join us next Wednesday for
• 18:29
  more fan fantastic information and interviews.
• 18:32
  You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
• 18:37
  website succeed as your own boss.com.
• 18:40
  Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.