Does your company have a seat at the table? For many years I have seen owners of small to mid-size businesses manage their companies like they were one of their children or dependents.  Then when things go awry they call people like me for help.  My advice to them is to “corporatize” their companies. I often see business owners who think of themselves and their businesses as one entity.  These owners act as if the business could not function without them; they feel as if they are the lifeline to the organization.  This is almost always not the case.  Any company which is to be sustainable must not be dependent on any one individual, no matter how important that position is within the organization. To demonstrate this I often pull a chair up to the table where we are working and ask the owner to imagine that the business is occupying that chair.  As you can imagine they look at me as if I’ve lost it!  I ask them if they can personally fund the next payroll.  They usually say, “well no”.  I tell them that the company can and does.  I ask them if they can make rent, make the […]