Name: Michele Foy
Background: Foy, 50, was a drama major at Avila College in Kansas City, Mo., and did organizational and training work for such groups as The Hunger Project before starting her own business, Dynamic Alternatives Inc., in 1980. Foy has been married for 29 years, and her husband, Jim, now works in the business with her. They have three grown children and live in Winnetka.
Years on the job: 13 1/2
Most of my clients are masters at their specific industry but have very little understanding of management. They consider management a luxury; after they do everything else, they might sit down and think about it. In my experience, the reason most companies fail-and 50 percent do fail in the first year-is poor planning.
Most of the next 50 percent fail in the following four years, and that is usually because of a total lack of management. They’re often so focused on something, such as production, that they miss a lot of serious early warning signs that they might have caught and done something about.
When a client first comes to us, we spend an intensive two hours finding out who they are, what their business is, what their hopes and dreams were when they started, what their attitude about the business is, how they work with their employees and what they think the problems are. We usually can get a good, solid sense of what’s going on in that two-hour period.
The businesses we work with range in size from one person to about 200. They go from startup to 75-year-old companies. We prefer a wholly-owned company, where the people we’re working with are in control and can make decisions.
There are several different stages when a company will experience need for support. One is when the company has grown beyond the entrepreneur’s ability to manage it by instinct. The entrepreneurs who survive that second four years are people who have a gut instinct for running a business. They can feel where the problem is instinctively and apply a solution. But sometimes when the company grows beyond a certain size, they can no longer do that, and they may not realize that they’ve lost touch with their company.
Another reason we might be called in is that a major change is taking place, usually consciously, often in response to a market shift. They may be thinking about bringing in a new product or expanding the employee base or automating. In the latter case, we will install a computer system, custom-design the system for the business and train the employees. That can create upheaval, and there’s a lot of planning that needs to be done. People usually don’t know how to approach the detailed planning that will avoid trauma. Well-planned, a major shift can be relatively painless. Not well-planned, it can kill a business.
After we’ve examined the business, we look at what the key issue is, and then we present a strategic plan of action to achieve the client’s goal. We work with the owner to be sure of what they want, and then we start implementing the plan. We let the client do as much as possible himself. We like to feel that when we’re finished, the client has an understanding of what we’ve done, how we’ve done it and why we did it that way so they could replicate it if the situation arose again.
Our organization becomes a friend and a resource for the client. We’ve had clients who have been with us for six or seven years, with active and dormant periods. As new issues arise, we may be called in to help again.
One thing we’ve done a lot of over the years is partnership relations. This can be very emotional; problems with business partnerships are almost identical to problems of a marriage that’s going through trouble.
In one case, we worked with a partnership until the business was large enough where they could divide it up and become strategic allies with two separate businesses that still worked together. Both businesses could have been lost, so we’re pleased that we helped them survive.
One of our most interesting clients is a firm run by a brother and sister who inherited the business when their parents died unexpectedly. They had some trouble with the people who were working for them, including a lawyer who convinced them they were incompetent and verbally and emotionally abused them. You’d be surprised how easy it is to do that to people who are insecure.
A friend referred us to them, and we interviewed all the employees and their lawyer and accountant, analyzed the situation and gave them some recommendations, which they followed. It took some time, and some employees had to leave, but we got everything worked out, and they were able to pick up the reins and take control.
A lot of what we do is just help people come to terms with what is the reality of the situation and then build from there.
One case we had just couldn’t be saved, though that’s rare. This was a business where three men had designed and marketed a tool and then invested about half their money in a lawyer who put together corporate papers that would have rivaled General Motors’. But the tool was just too expensive to produce, and the business couldn’t possibly make any money. It was a classic case of bad decision after bad decision. All we could do when they called us in was advise them on how to cut their losses.
I don’t have any typical day. The phone usually rings for the first time between about 8:30 and 9 in the morning with a question about something happening in someone’s office. I may have a meeting with a client in the morning and then be back in the office in the afternoon and on the phone again. Frequently that continues into the night. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and our clients know that. I do a lot of my quiet work late at night when there aren’t so many calls.
I never have the same mix of clients from one day to another or from one week to another. It’s fun that way, and it’s exciting. I like working with people, and I like solving problems. I have an instinct for it.
There’s very little I don’t like about this field. I’m learning to like writing, which is necessary in this job. That’s the hardest part for me.
The most difficult problem I encounter is where there is some sort of emotional commitment to the source of a company’s problem. The owner may be committed to an employee or the way something is done, and it’s difficult to break through that attachment. The people issues are always the most difficult. Once you overcome that, you can do anything. One of the most fascinating things about this job is watching the miracles happen once the eyes open.
