It Takes A While To Rebuild A Business

I sit here at the Corporate Headquarters of MineThatData, catching up on industry news. Every day, there will be an article headline that makes no sense.

• "Six Ways To Turbocharge Your Instagram Strategy For Breakthrough Results, Number Six Will Stun You".

Then you read the article, and you see nonsense like this:

1. Be authentic.
2. Create great content.
3. Engage your audience with imagery.
4. Offer a discount to tickle the buying bone.
5. Be Different.
6. Never Give Up.

It's at this point that I bang my head against the purple walls that adorn the Corporate Headquarters of MineThatData. Lightly concussed, on-site medical staff determine if I have the strength required to read yet another article outlining Thought Leadership opportunities.

Here's the thing. It is really, really hard to Rebuild a Business.

Remember the won/lost data for Chico's, presented yesterday?

• 2007 Record = 7-9.
• 2008 Record = 3-13.
• 2009 Record = 8-8.
• 2010 Record = 9-7.
• 2011 Record = 10-6.
• 2012 Record = 10-6.
• 2013 Record = 6-10.
• 2014 Record = 6-10.
• 2015 Record = 5-11.

When the business bottomed-out during The Great Recession, a new CEO was hired. It then took three years, yes, three years, to achieve a 10-6 record, a level I consider "playoff worthy" (sales growth was 11%, pre-tax profit was 6%). And once the business got to "the playoffs", the business began to fall apart. A new CEO was named in 2015, when the business suffered through a 5-11 season (sales fell by 1%, pre-tax profit was flat).

In other words, you don't turbocharge a business with an Instagram strategy. You work your rear-end off on 1,493 tiny details that all work together to create steady improvements in key metrics like net sales and pre-tax profit percentage.

How do you link together the 1,493 tiny details that all must work together so that your business can go from a 6-10 record to a 10-6 record? Discuss.

P.S. Hillstrom's Rebuild is available on Amazon - click here to purchase.