I would like to thank everyone for the great feedback this month about our article in Crain's Chicago Business (May 10th issue, p. SB10). Ken Klancnik, the owner of Universal-Automatic, realized when new orders stalled and expenses piled up that he needed an executive with hands-on experience. He turned to a ForteCEO executive with almost 40 years of experience in his industry. Please take a moment to read about the article and our success with the company.

The best part of this story has happened since Crain’s went to press. Ken now has a full order book into 2005 – and we are working with him to expand production capacity as orders continue to pour in.

What we do for our clients is repeat in their businesses operational strategies that we have already perfected in our own. Every one of our executives has what I refer to as a “million dollar education” – gained through the school of experience. Let us put that experience to work for you.

Even though he's spent 15 years making the tough calls as head of a manufacturing company, Ken Klancnik knew he needed outside help last year. He found a guiding hand in one ForteCEO executive, who stepped in to mentor the company's leadership and ensure a healthy future for the company.

The assistance of an interim executive can be a powerful tool for a small business owner, but as Crain's Chicago Business reported in a recent issue, the owner must be willing to "cede some control to outsiders."

The Crain's article, entitled "Got a problem? A temp CEO can help you fix it," calls attention to the growing field of interim executive management and the private business owners who are turning to ForteCEO for these services.

The article introduces readers to an ongoing relationship between ForteCEO and Chicago area machine tool manufacturer Universal-Automatic. Since last fall, ForteCEO's Don Schlueter has been working with the company to expand sales while trimming excess expenses. This has meant some tough decisions, Schlueter said.

Cabworks is well positioned to pursue their vision “To be the leading architectural stainless steel and sheet metal design, fabrication and installation company in the Midwest.

"The business executive has to trust that I ... have the experience and know-how and his best interest at heart, and the only mission is to make his company successful," he told Crain's.

Universal-Automatic owner Ken Klancnik knew he was up against the wall with his business when he put in the call to ForteCEO. Since the beginning of the engagement, he has found tremendous value in ForteCEO's services and Mr. Schlueter's ability to deliver results quickly.

"We were just mired in the muck," Klancnik told Crain's. "We may have known a lot of the right things to do. We just couldn't do them."

Schlueter's decades of related experience is not uncommon at ForteCEO, where most of the 80-plus executives in the firm have over 20 years of experience running private businesses. ForteCEO founder Mark Rittmanic explained to Crain's that his company's clients expect this level of expertise.

"Entrepreneurs are a tough lot," Rittmanic told the magazine. "They want people who are introspective enough to really walk in their shoes, and they want people who already have a basis of knowledge of the issues they face."

Even experienced managers often face seemingly insurmountable business issues.

Peter Spaulding is one of ForteCEO's more than 80 hard-driving problem solvers who can be dispatched to deal with everything from ailing balance sheets to business expansion.

With over 40 years of expertise in steering small and large manufacturing businesses to profitability, Peter prides himself on the leadership he has provided to many struggling business. With his roots firmly planted in the disciplines of sales and marketing, Peter understands that success means engaging many parties including owner/managers, employees, customers and shareholders, while remaining focused on achieving financial results.

Peter’s career spans the evolution of the manufacturing industry, establishing innovative strategies for new product development, plant modernization/consolidation and automation in both union and non-union environments. Peter has successfully launched, grown and sold businesses, led acquisitions and divestitures and orchestrated successful mergers for more than five multinational and multi-site businesses. He has direct experience in hiring, training and integrating professional management teams. As a hands-on leader, President, COO and General Manager, Peter has successfully re-shaped market direction, rebuilt product lines, established new sales networks, gained market share and delivered profits. He has proven expertise in instituting World Class Principles and in achieving ISO 9001 certification, having received the first Motor industry ISO certification. Industry experience includes: aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics, hand tools, industrial, military, telecommunications and vending.

His real-world experience includes:

• Growing sales of a metal stamping company over 63% and profits over 58% in just two years
• Successful merger of two established tool companies including the integration of all functional areas and sales growth of 15%
• The successful turnaround and restructuring of an ailing 60-year-old gear motor manufacturing business, reversing a $2 million-plus loss to a $2 million-plus profit. Led divestiture activities following company restructuring.
• Renewing a small motors manufacturing division by turning around divisional sales by 30%, restructuring the business to reduce labor by 20% and improved divisional profits by 260%
• Established offshore manufacturing facilities for the motors, connectors and metal parts industries.

Peter holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Distribution from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.

Time and time again, we have all heard the stories. Good companies, with good ideas and able people, are missing targets and underperforming. Or companies that fall into unusually deep trouble in market downturns. We see and hear examples all the time about these companies doing massive lay-offs and/or being sold or closed at fire-sale prices. Yet, at the same time, we see their competitors outperforming them and gaining market share.

Typically, one big difference between the two companies in the example above is strategic planning. Not the strategic planning of years ago – you know, the multiple binders written over the course of months by people from HQ. No, this era of effective strategic planning is a closed loop of commitments and activities surrounding a crisp vision and mission statement that has been developed to seize a position in the market that is under-served, or has an unusual potential for growth and/or defensive posturing.

What is a closed loop in strategic planning? A closed loop incorporates tight linkages between the various critical elements of the strategic plan. The elements are the: Vision, Mission, Business Principles, Company Goals & Objectives, Organizational Alignment, Departmental Goals & Objectives, Implementation Plan with Timelines, and frequent reporting of Critical Success Factors through a Dashboard. When done well, these are not a series of sections in a big binder. They are highly integrated elements of a well orchestrated plan of action developed by the management team who will execute them through the cultural alignment they engineer and re-engineer for continuous improvement.

How do you recognize a closed loop strategic plan? The leader of a company with such a plan can see the work of anyone in the organization and trace it back to Critical Success Factors, which point directly toward specific Goals and Objectives, which are tightly tied to the Mission of the company, which is the current step toward achieving the company’s Vision. The loop becomes closed when the CEO, and anyone else in the company, can describe the company in terms of their Mission and their progress toward it. The lens into this picture of the company is the Dashboard which demonstrates trends and progress toward the necessary Goals and Objectives required in the plan.

How does all of this build business value? The value of a business is typically based upon a multiple of cash flow and the depreciated value of assets. However, there is always a premium (and often very large premium) for companies whose culture is responsive to changing condition, whose language is built around critical business issues, whose position in the market is unique and defendable and sustainable, and whose practice it is to make and execute plans.

So gone it is, and gratefully so, with the binders created by the pocket-protector gang only to be stored on a shelf until next year. This generation of closed loop strategic planning will be measured in:

• Pages, not binders;
• The language in the cafeteria, not that of the Board Room;
• Metrics, not dialogue;
• Dashboards, not exhaustive commentaries; and
• Results, not plans.

For more information about how your company can develop a closed-loop strategic plan, call ForteCEO for a consultation to help you become familiar with the process.

With more than 80 experienced business executives at our disposal, ForteCEO is able to match its clients with someone who has direct experience solving your specific problems. We have experts in fields from manufacturing and publishing to internet startups, and we have a solid track record in leadership mentoring, CEO augmentation, sales assistance, and generational transfer issues.

Through a series of exploratory meetings (at no charge to you), we will help you identify your company's unique opportunities and challenges before assigning one of our executives. With more than 80 business executives in our group, we can provide a leader with proven successes and experience in your industry. To be sure, no two business challenges are alike, but our wide array of talented executives has experienced and solved almost every conceivable issue in their own businesses. They have developed the ability to quickly diagnose and solve complex business problems, and can work through transitions like loss of profitability, generational transfer and competitive setbacks.

A ForteCEO executive will hit the ground running, which means no waiting for results. Our executives often work with the current owners to establish a new direction and growth strategy for a business within days of arrival. Interim executives will partner with you to provide the vision, maturity and experience that comes from having "been there, done that."

ForteCEO executives are accomplished men and women who have built companies from the ground up and are looking for new challenges. Since most of these individuals have amassed significant experience at the helms of their own companies, they are well suited to be both advisors and implementers in interim situations. This translates into quick action and immediate, tangible results for the companies they assist.

ForteCEO is the only firm of its type in the United States, and we boast a group of 80-plus executives with business leadership experience. Whether you are dealing with a loss of leadership, faltering revenues, operational challenges, or need a complete reorganization, there is a ForteCEO who has dealt with the situation before.