Business Turnaround podcast
Episodes
When Growing Faster Makes You Poorer
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In blue-collar businesses, growth is often treated as proof of success. More contracts, more clients, more machines, more vans, more people. But growt...
The Cashflow Mirage: Why Your Business Feels Busy but Broke
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Cashflow Mirage is a psychological trap disguised as operational success. It tricks owners into believing the business is healthy because the team...
The Blind Spot Problem: What Owners Don’t See Is What Destroys Them
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every business decline I’ve ever stepped into, whether it was a manufacturing shop, a transport company, a care provider, or a retail chain, had the...
The Profit Leak: Why Good Companies Lose Money Without Realising It
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A profit leak is one of those things you can feel in your bones long before you see it in the numbers. You look at your bank account at the end of the...
Clearing the Operational Fog as The Fastest Path Back to Profit
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You know exactly what I mean. That moment when you walk into your business and realise that everything is happening… but nothing is truly under cont...
The Retail Illusion: When Sales Go Up, But Profits Disappear
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Retail lies to you. It gives you the illusion of success through footfall, transactions, even a spike in gross sales. But none of that matters if your...
AI, Chaos, and the New Rules of Turnaround
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let’s be honest –> Most blue-collar businesses, whether in manufacturing, construction, logistics, or field services, weren’t designed for wh...
The Loyalty Trap: When Good People Cost You Growth
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you run a factory, a construction firm, a logistics business, you know how valuable it is to have someone you trust. Someone who’s been there sin...
Owner Blindness: When You’re Too Close to See the Problem
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve built this company. With your hands, your time, your weekends. You remember every supplier meeting from 10 years ago. You know how to fix the...
The Profit Leaks You Don’t See (Until It’s Too Late)
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Most business owners I meet don’t go bust overnight. They survive the big shocks – COVID, interest rates, raw material hikes... But what finishes ...
The Product That’s Killing You
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You know the one I mean. The one that’s been around forever. The one your team has an emotional connection to. The one your customers used to love.....
Momentum Is Your First Turnaround Metric
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Momentum isn’t on your P&L. You can’t measure it on a dashboard. But every founder, every CEO, every operator who’s lived through tough time...
The Owner’s Shadow: Why You Might Be the Problem (and the Solution)
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In every business there’s one constant that shapes the company’s culture more than anything else. Not your brand. Not your P&L. I’m talking ...
When Profit Hides the Problem
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I’ve seen businesses with strong profits – on paper – fall apart months later. I’ve seen companies making millions collapse under pressure. Wh...
When the Numbers Lie: Why Gut Instinct Still Matters
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Don’t get me wrong – I live and breathe financial models. My team builds dashboards, tears apart P&Ls, optimises working capital to the decima...
The Myth of Waiting for Perfect Conditions
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve been running a blue-collar business through tough times, you’ve probably said or thought something like: “We’ll fix it once demand p...
Complexity is Killing Your Company
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Most business owners I meet don’t realise how dangerous complexity really is. They think it shows how far they’ve come – multiple product lines,...
The Growth That Nearly Bankrupted You
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Growth is supposed to be a good thing. You’re taking more orders, hiring more staff, expanding your space. You’re busy, working hard – it feels ...
Too Close to See the Bleeding
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s something I see in almost every struggling blue-collar business I walk into. The owner is usually hard-working. Loyal. Respected by the team. B...
When Loyalty Becomes a Liability
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Loyalty is a value we’re taught to respect. Be loyal to your staff. Your customers. Your suppliers. Your old ways of working. But here’s the uncom...
The Real Reason Your Staff Don’t Care And What to Do About It
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve been in business long enough, you’ve had that moment. You walk through the workshop, or the warehouse, or the site, and you think, “Wh...
Your Profit Isn’t Missing — It’s Bleeding Out
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most dangerous things in business isn’t a big crisis. It’s the quiet, creeping loss of margin that looks small on paper — but adds up...
Slow Down to Speed Up: Why Chaos Is Costing You Profit
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you're running a blue-collar business, you know the drill. The phone won’t stop ringing, deadlines are brutal, and you’re always three hires sh...
When Growth Becomes a Trap: Rebuilding Smarter, Not Bigger
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Growth can be a gift. But it can also be a trap, especially for blue-collar businesses where the pressure to take on every job, say yes to every oppor...
The Ego Trap: How Pride Kills Turnarounds
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In nearly every business turnaround I’ve led, ego has been one of the biggest barriers to success. Not market conditions. Not lack of funding. Not e...
Burning Platform: Why Rock Bottom Can Be Your Launchpad
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the world of turnarounds, nothing drives action like pain. And I don’t mean minor discomfort—I’m talking about real, undeniable, existential ...
Stop Firefighting, Start Leading
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every struggling business I walk into has one thing in common: everyone’s busy. Phones ringing, machines breaking, orders running late, customers sh...
Fire Yourself First: The Real Start of a Business Turnaround
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When your business is in trouble — cash is tight, team morale is low, clients are slipping away — your first instinct might be to blame external f...
Why More Sales Won’t Save You. The Profitability Wake-Up Call
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In a struggling business, chasing more revenue without fixing your margins is like pouring water into a bucket full of holes. You’ll work harder, se...
How to Align Your Team in a Turnaround
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In nearly every turnaround I’ve led, there’s one consistent truth — the old rules no longer work. But the team? They’re often still playing ...
Firing Clients to Save Your Business
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you reviewed all your clients today—every contract, every recurring order, every long-standing relationship—how many of them are truly helping ...
Speed Over Perfection. How Quick Action Saves Companies
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If there’s one thing I’ve learned after years of turning around businesses—from logistics to retail to homecare—it’s this: speed beats strat...
Why Stakeholder Trust Is Your Most Valuable Turnaround Asset
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When your business is in trouble—sales dropping, costs rising, cash getting tight—your first instinct might be to cut, freeze, or fight. But here’...
How Refocusing Can Save Your Business
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In a turnaround, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking the answer is just more effort. Work harder. Push sales more. Squeeze costs harder. But i...
Leading Through the Storm
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the early stages of decline, most leaders freeze. They wait, they hope, they delay hard decisions. And in doing so, they surrender the steering whe...
Reviving Cash Flow
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a business is struggling, cash flow is often the first alarm bell that rings. It’s not just a number on a spreadsheet—it’s the oxygen your ...
Changing from Within: Culture and Process in a Turnaround
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I’ve worked with plenty of struggling companies—some in manufacturing, others in care, retail, logistics—you name it. And one truth always shows...
The Answers Are Already in Your Business
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a business starts struggling, there’s often a rush to hire consultants, spend money on reports, or brainstorm high-level strategies in a room f...
When Mergers Go Wrong: Lessons for Turnaround Success
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When companies are in trouble, merging with another business often seems like a quick fix—a way to scale, cut costs, or breathe new life into operat...
Leading a Turnaround with the Team You Have—Not the One You Wish For
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In an ideal world, every struggling company would have a team of top-tier managers and high-performing employees ready to execute a turnaround plan. B...
Challenges into Opportunities. A New Mindset for Business Turnaround
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A business turnaround isn’t just about fixing problems—it’s about reframing them into opportunities for growth, innovation, and transformation. ...
Leadership Over Management—The Key to a Successful Turnaround
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a company is struggling, strong management skills alone won’t be enough to save it. Yes, you need systems, processes, and accountability. But t...
The Power of Focusing on Solutions in a Business Turnaround
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a business is in trouble, it’s easy to get caught up in everything that’s wrong. The cash flow issues, the declining sales, the debt piling u...
The Key to Business Resilience and Growth
20 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At the heart of every company’s success lies its profit core. Think of it as the engine that keeps your business moving forward, even in challenging...
How to Determine Your Cash Runway and Strengthen Your Business Recovery Plan
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a business faces challenges, cash becomes king. In fact, it’s not just a cliché—it’s reality. Cash flow isn’t just another metric to gla...
Finding the Cut: Never let a good crisis go to waste.
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Running a business comes with a constant balancing act: you’re always weighing costs, managing resources, and trying to keep growth on track. But wh...
4 Steps to Rescue a Capsizing Company
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
No company is immune to trouble. Whether you’re running a blue-collar SME or managing a larger enterprise, the first sign of distress is often liqui...
Overcoming Your Fear of Financials
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For many business owners, the numbers side of the business feels like a foreign language. Maybe it’s overwhelming, or maybe it feels like something ...
Building a Fortress Balance Sheet: Your Business’s Best Defense
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When we talk about turning around a struggling business, it’s easy to focus on immediate fixes like cutting costs or boosting sales. But a long-term...
Navigating the Hardest Decision: Letting Employees Go During a Turnaround
09 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Letting employees go isn’t just a financial decision—it’s a deeply personal and emotional one. People are the heart of your company, and having ...
Fighting the Dragon with a SWOT Analysis
02 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine you’re in the middle of a battle, facing a fire-breathing dragon. The heat is unbearable, the flames are closing in, and all you can see is ...
Managing the Emotional Rollercoaster of a Business Turnaround
26 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Running a business in crisis is not just a test of strategy or execution—it’s a test of emotional resilience. The highs can be euphoric, like land...
Raising Capital During a Business Turnaround
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Raising money during a turnaround is different than raising money in a growth phase. Investors are wary, and you’ll need to prove that your business...
Boosting Labor Efficiency During a Business Turnaround
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When a business is in trouble, one of the first places to look for improvement is in how efficiently labor is being utilized. Labor costs are often on...
Knowing When to Call It Quits in a Business Turnaround
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
No one starts a business with the intention of walking away. We pour our hearts, energy, and resources into our companies, and when things start going...
Building a Winning Team During a Turnaround
28 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a business turnaround one of the most impactful decisions you’ll make is who you bring onto your team. The right hires can transform a struggling...
Navigating Employee Challenges During a Business Turnaround
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dealing with employee challenges can be one of the hardest parts of leading a business turnaround. As leaders, we want to protect the people who’ve ...
Determining Your Cash Runway in a Business Turnaround
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When you’re in a turnaround situation, cash isn’t just king - it’s your lifeline. Determining your cash runway, or how much time you have before...
Finding Efficiencies and Simplifying for a Business Turnaround
07 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When a business is in distress, the instinct is often to do more—try new things, add more services, expand into different areas. But, when your busi...
Forecasting Scenarios for a Successful Business Turnaround
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When your business is in distress, you can’t afford to make decisions based on gut feelings or past experiences alone. You need hard data, and more ...
The Fastest Way to Profit in a Business Turnaround
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When we think about turning a business around, the first instinct is often to focus on growing sales. The fastest way to profitability though is often...
Staying Strong in a Business Turnaround—Body, Mind, and Focus
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Turning a business around is an intense process. The stakes are high, and the pressure can be overwhelming. As leaders, we often get so focused on sav...
Strengthening Your Supply Chain in a Business Turnaround
10 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When we think about turning a business around, the first things that come to mind are cutting costs or improving efficiency. While these are important...
How Working Capital Can Make or Break Your Business
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Understanding how to manage working capital can mean the difference between success and bankruptcy. It’s a silent killer, often lurking behind the s...
Liquidation – The Last Resort in a Business Turnaround
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Liquidation is often seen as the last, unwanted resort. It's the word that no business owner wants to hear, and the option we all hope we can avoid. B...
Momentum Over Perfection in a Business Turnaround
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In business, especially when you’re in a turnaround situation, perfection is often the enemy of profitability. When you’re waiting for the perfect...
Fixing Broken Revenue Channels in a Business Turnaround
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When your business is in trouble, one of the first areas you need to assess is how your company is generating revenue. It’s not just about how much ...
Cleaning House for a Successful Business Turnaround
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a business crisis, one of the hardest truths to face is that the same team that led the company into trouble is rarely the team that can lead it ba...
Embracing Adversity: Strengthening Your Business and Yourself
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When your business hits a rough patch, it’s natural to feel the weight of those challenges bearing down on you. The instinctive reaction might be to...
Simplifying for Success in a Business Turnaround
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When a company is in a growth phase, it’s natural to expand — new divisions are added, management layers increase, and more complex projects are t...
Debt Restructuring in a Business Turnaround
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When a business is in trouble, the weight of debt can feel overwhelming. It’s not just about the numbers; it’s about the daily pressure of keeping...
Growing Sales and Sustainable Growth During a Turnaround
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a business turnaround, growing sales and ensuring sustainable growth are critical, yet tricky. Today, Marek explores how to leverage modern channel...
Leading Through Crisis: The Power of Effective Leadership
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Effective leadership is the cornerstone of any successful business turnaround. When a company is in crisis, strong leadership can make the difference ...
Diagnostic Review: Your Blueprint for Business Recovery
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A successful business turnaround starts with a comprehensive diagnostic review. This crucial step helps identify the root causes of distress and forms...
Blueprint for a Successful Business Turnaround
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Turning around a struggling business is no small feat, but with a clear and structured approach, it’s entirely possible. In this episode, Marek will...
Predicting Company Failure with the Altman Z-Score
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Marek delves into the Altman Z-Score, a powerful tool for predicting company failure. Discover how this financial metric, developed b...
How To Recognize and Address Business Decline
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we’ll explore the key symptoms and underlying causes of business decline, and discuss how you can address these issues before they ...
Assessing the Financial Health of a Distressed Company
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we'll explore the crucial steps involved in evaluating a company's financial condition, a foundational process for any successful tur...