Get ready for the impeding economic bust!

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Product Description

Acclaim for The Six-Month Fix

"Finally: a turnaround guide that explains the nontrivial difference between those who work for debtors and those who work for shareholders, and gives readers a peek at why most turnaround guys should not stay for long."
–– John Carrington, Chairman and CEO, WebSense

"Too many celebrate financial victory; too few dig into business tragedy. Ultimate success comes from saving the disasters, and this book tells exactly how."
–– Craig McCaw, Chairman, Nextel

"A solid turnaround guide from one who’s been there."
–– Peter Ueberroth, Chairman, Contrarian Fund

"Hard-hitting, practical thrusts."
–– Philip Thurston, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business School

"Winning basics for sports, war, or business."
–– Don Drobny, Partner, Perot Systems

"Uncommon, in-your-face thinking that resurrects business."
–– Carole Rhoades, Vice President, Seaport Ventures

"Powerful. I reread it on trips."
–– Allan Shaw, Executive Director, MS Society

"Executives must read this."
–– Martha Demski, VP and CFO, Vical

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #258766 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780471036265
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"...better than almost any fiction novel I have read...could keep even non-management glued to it for hours..." -- M2 Best Books, 30 July 2002

"...it is full of firecrackers that make some valuable points.." (Financial Times, 13 February 2002)

"...but this book is not typical and is well worth reading." (Eurobusiness, April 2002)

"...better than almost any fiction novel I have read...could keep even non-management glued to it for hours..." (M2 Best Books, 30 July 2002)

"...it is full of firecrackers that make some valuable points..." -- Financial Times, 13 February 2002

"..it is full of firecrackers that make some valuable points.." -- Financial Times, 13 February 2002

From the Inside Flap
"If you’re the CEO of a struggling business, let’s hope we never meet. I’m a turnaround guy. When I arrive, you leave, and profits return. This book shows how we can avoid that unpleasantness."
––Gary Sutton, The Six-Month Fix

Direct, funny, and brutally honest, Gary Sutton addresses executives of faltering businesses and provides proven tactics for stopping negative cash flow, turning a company around, and rebuilding profits in this practical book. His role as "CEO du jour" in eight different industries resulted in remarkable transformations––and now he shares his hard-hitting wisdom and unique perspective so that your company can experience a similar resurrection.

The Six-Month Fix gives you complete access to real-life, no-holds-barred examples, situations, and methods of fixing any company the right way, the first time. Whether your business is paralyzed by steep losses, or just breaking even but still losing ground to competitors, Sutton shows you how to reverse direction immediately and see results in six months!

Mind you, this book is not for the faint of heart––Sutton is frank in outlining the gut-wrenching process of a turnaround, deliberately meant to frighten you into action and help your business avoid bankruptcy. This involves embracing change, defining realistic goals, and becoming smarter about risks you’ll need to take once your business is back on its feet. Depending on your situation, Sutton directs you to the sections in the book you need to focus on right away, be it stopping the bleeding and stabilizing your cash, or shifting into the next gear to enhance profits and lift your company to new heights.

Business war stories in The Six-Month Fix guide management. You’ll learn:

• The difference between turnaround professionals who negotiate for creditors and those who work for shareholders
• How to identify frauds (the "unemployed CEOs" and those finance firms) and avoid their maneuverings
• How to know your customers better than they know themselves
• Why top turnaround managers always fail to lead a business after it’s been fixed
• How to quit gambling with your company (Think you’re not? You are.)
• Ways to raise ethics and simultaneously boost profits

This isn’t just a battle for survival–– it’s the fight of your life. And nowhere will you receive more straightforward, essential advice on winning than in The Six-Month Fix.

From the Back Cover
Acclaim for The Six-Month Fix

"Finally: a turnaround guide that explains the nontrivial difference between those who work for debtors and those who work for shareholders, and gives readers a peek at why most turnaround guys should not stay for long."
–– John Carrington, Chairman and CEO, WebSense

"Too many celebrate financial victory; too few dig into business tragedy. Ultimate success comes from saving the disasters, and this book tells exactly how."
–– Craig McCaw, Chairman, Nextel

"A solid turnaround guide from one who’s been there."
–– Peter Ueberroth, Chairman, Contrarian Fund

"Hard-hitting, practical thrusts."
–– Philip Thurston, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business School

"Winning basics for sports, war, or business."
–– Don Drobny, Partner, Perot Systems

"Uncommon, in-your-face thinking that resurrects business."
–– Carole Rhoades, Vice President, Seaport Ventures

"Powerful. I reread it on trips."
–– Allan Shaw, Executive Director, MS Society

"Executives must read this."
–– Martha Demski, VP and CFO, Vical

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Customer Reviews

Practical, easy to read book on turnarounds
This is a great book on business turnarounds. It is eminently practical, humorous in spots and filled with interesting stories that highlight the advice being given.

The author offers 69 small chapters of advice. There's everything from what to do first on a turnaround... to how to get the best price selling your company. Nearly every page is heavily underlined in my book.

The topics that I particularly found valuable were: "Find the margin, cut all other costs"; "Specialize, do it where the margin lives, stop everything else"; "franchising is more about real estate than the business";his chapter on "make what sells" and the importance of low cost and his abundant advice on how to cut costs; his recommendations on increasing price on certain product types; setting your debt levels at the "10 year flood plain" for your company; demoting IT because it operates with its own agenda; stopping the CFO from gambling; cutting down on consultants and moving them over to more of a performance basis... well the topics go on, but you get the idea.

There's lots of advice. It's blunt and somewhat in your face. The text is easy to read and interesting too. There are lots of small stories that illustrate the points.

Overall I recommend this book most highly, not only for business turnarounds, but for any CEO or CEO wanna-bee. It would make a great book to take on business travel and read on the airplane. It's easy to read with the small chapters, and many topics. This is easily a 5 star book.

John Dunbar

A Turnaround MBA in 290 Pages
There is big difference in 20 years of experience and one year of experience twenty times.Sutton?s experience is worth far more than the number of years he has invested. He writes in a lighthearted style for such a serious subject as business turnarounds, that makes this an easy but powerful read.

With success in reversing the dismal fortunes of several companies in a variety of industries, the author gives a sharp insight in how to correct it in your company and better yet how to avoid it altogether. A quick glance at the table of contents will load you with ideas for improvement for any company.

Some ideas are obvious and simplistic- "Eliminate Sex", "Attack Drugs and Alcohol" and "Fight Politics", for example. Most of the examples, however, are valuable and brief. Some ideas challenge the obvious: "Downgrade Education?", "Reverse Discriminate" and "Cash Makes You Stupid."

This is a good book to have on your shelf to scan for ideas to improve your business. A straight read will be a great checklist for weaknesses in your organization that can come back to hurt you later.

For those business rookies fresh with the theories about how business is supposed to work, here is a great source to show you how it really works in the world of obstacles.

A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from the mistakes of others. There are plenty of blunders here to learn from. But you can also learn how to fix them.

The Real Book on Turnarounds
I have spent a year reading a host of turnaround books and this is the One. Fantastic Book. Easy to Read. Humorous with very clear direction after each chapter of real world implementation plans.

The book gives the precise focus and direction needed in the first 30 days of a turnaround or need to change any current business. Key chapters which focus on the basics of any good turnaround are:

Chapter 6 - Specialize or Die & Slash Costs ( Reduce Burn)
Chapter 11 - Crawl into your Customer's skin ( Customer focus)
Chapter 25 - Tighten the ship ( Profit enhancements)

Great stories and advice on Board management as well as the search for a New CEO.

Great for turnarounds, Start-ups and any exisiting business trying to improve profits.The benchmark for Turnaround Books.