‘Can the business pay its current and future obligations?’ 

This should be a standing management question.

A client asked for something that wasn’t in your catalogue but it was close enough, and the client was valuable enough. So the sales team said ‘Yes, we can deliver that.’ 

Engineering figured out a workaround. It worked, not well but well enough. The client walked away happy. And that once-off product somehow became one of your standard offerings. 

Three years later. Engineering has been outsourced to Claude and a team from India. No one understands the workaround any more. As a once-off it never got documented. And it won’t run on anything newer than Microsoft Vista. 

It’s inconvenient, but not enough to get fixed. Every production run takes energy, attention, resources and patience. The team hopes it won’t fail. Not this time, anyway. 

This string and sticky tape solution has somehow become a core technology. You never decided to have it that way, but you also haven’t yet decided to fix it properly. You probably won’t, either, until an irretrievable failure creates an existential crisis. 

Let’s assume you have a CRM; at the very least, a system to record the details of people who once were intrigued about your business, products and services. 

Maybe they requested a demo or they downloaded something. It could be they turned up at your doorstep to see, touch and hear what’s on offer. You may have done the work to generate a quotation. 

They didn’t buy straight away so – nothing. 

They didn’t say ‘yes.’ But they didn’t say ‘no,’ either. Maybe the message was ‘yes, but not right now.’ The timing could have been wrong The budget wasn’t quite there yet. Maybe some other priority took their attention away. 

So there they sit. Another record in your CRM. 

Meanwhile, you pay thousands every month to Meta and Google for more leads. 

Don’t you think that’s weird? That someone who already showed genuine interest a few months ago is now worth less than some stranger who clicked your link? 

You already paid for that earlier lead, folks. They’re already qualified and partway through the funnel. Before you throw away more money to generate interest from a cold hard crowd, have a look at the prospects who already proved their interest.

Back in the early days you won business from someone who became your first anchor client. It was a relationship that worked perfectly for you both.

They honoured you with consistent business and large orders. They accepted your pricing and the growing pains you experienced. They were easy to work with, and they paid on time.

But things change.

People move on, and the relationships diminish. Their business changed, and their orders became smaller and more sporadic. They questioned your pricing and established alternative supply channels, ‘just in case.’

Your business changed too. Your focus broadened to other products and services. What was once your immovable foundation slipped into a sideline.

Have a serious look at how you now allocate your attention, capacity, and concessions. Do they still deserve the exalted label of ‘anchor client’?

Maybe, maybe not.

The qualifying question is: Given what you know now, would you actively pursue the same account today, with the same vigour, on the same terms?

The P&L statement your accountant produced for last quarter showed a handy profit.

But where’s the money?

Some is in the bank account, which is nice, but it’s not nearly what you hoped would be there. Some sits on shelves out the back as paid-for but unsold inventory. And some languishes in Accounts Receivable, >60 days, because no one actively follows up and chases payment.

Individually, these things are not crisis material. Each gets fixed with some management attention and a few phone calls.

But together, they’re a trend that’s not moving your business in the right direction.

Profit is good but it’s not money in the bank unless you actively manage it there. Profit doesn’t pay your expenses; that’s what cash is for. The trick is to manage your business so that profit converts into cash as quickly as possible.

Softwarestan: “We have a saying, ‘Move fast and break things.’ The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough.”

Hardwarestan: “Measure twice, cut once.”

Choices.

How good would the Internet be if every home page answered Steve Krug’s 5 questions?

1. What is this?
2. What can I do here?
3. What do they have here?
4. Why should I be here (instead of somewhere else)?
5. Where do I start?

The lesson. Think UX before UI.

Your chances of making the sale improve when you offer your prospect:

1. A quality product
2. That does what they want it to do
3. At a price they can afford to pay.

Tick these 3 boxes, you’ll do okay.