Managing Internal Threats to Your Business

Never have I written a review -- favorable or otherwise -- of a book that I have not read. So I'm going out on a limb here: I read an article by Steve McKee, author of When Growth Stalls: How It Happens, Why You're Stuck & What to Do About It, and I was struck by the accuracy of what McKee said in a short piece in MarketingProfs. (You may have to register to read the article, but you can do so at no charge.)

The author spoke of the external and internal threats that can affect your business. The external, which he describes using the geological term, "tectonic", because they cause the world to shift figuratively beneath us.

The tectonics most often blamed for causing growth to stall are economic events (no surprise there), aggressive competition (watch what happens if IBM buys Sun), and changing industry dynamics (the founder of Sirius recently said that satellite radio's time has come—and gone).

But he goes on to point out that the external threats affect everyone more or less equally. It is the internal challenges that can undermine an individual business. When the economy is good, people are feeling good and tend to get along. When it is not so good, hidden problems emerg. It's worth reading the article in full. And perhaps you might even want to read the book...