We regularly speak to staffing firms that are thinking about selling their business to take their company to the next level, while other potential sellers may have different objectives for selling.

At times, we find that some of these firms are not ideally prepared for a sale of their company; that is, they don't have their (Business Act) together. They are not really running their business. Their time is often spent running around putting out fires that appear spontaneously in their company, seemingly without warning or notice.

We typically advise firms in this condition that if possible, hold off on selling your business. A few steps to take control again, can make the process and result far more lucrative.

While we can rarely have everything running as ideally as we might like; some firms that have always done certain things very well may have lost their way quite a bit as they have grown and sometimes the senior management doesn't even realize how things have changed, particularly if they don't spend much time in their branches.

Have you ever thought that you were not really in charge of your business? Have some events occurred in your business that you had never anticipated?

It raises the question of how do things really occur in your business?

Are most activities planned or do they just happen? Do you make plans that don't impact the results you hope to achieve?

Most honest small business owners have faced some of these questions. How do you get back in control of this run-away ship?

These types of questions usually raise more questions; such as,

• Do we lack a sound plan for growth;
• Do we have a sound plan with poor execution?
• Are we trying to do the right things?
• Are we doing them well and the right way?
• Do we have the right staff?
• Are they trained to do what we expect of them?
• Are we making the right contacts?
• Are we saying the appropriate things to these contacts?
• Are we making sufficient contacts to get results?
• Is the activity level high and positive enough?

The first challenge is to identify what is not working as you would like it to operate.

The next step is to try to understand why it is not working?

This can be done by examining what your staff is actually doing during their hours at work. Sometimes our best intentions get side-tracked.

Does each staff member understand their role and understand how to execute it?

Do your staff member's actually know where their time goes?

We may be surprised to find that much of their time is spent on activities we might categorize as low-revenue generating tasks.

Are their priorities in order and in line with the overall objectives?

Do they make good decisions with their available time or do they get bogged down in less productive, less important but seemingly "urgent" activities?

The internet can be a great time-saving tool or a great waste of time for your staff depending on how it is used.

Some staff can justify their extensive online search time as we all know candidates can be very hard to find. We also know searching for candidates can be less gut wrenching then making cold calls however is your staff's present balance of these activities likely to increase or decrease sales performance?

Perhaps separate staff should be hired and trained to seek out new sales opportunities and another group that focuses on finding candidates/job seekers, updating their records, creates a relationship with many of these individuals, be sure they will always take your call if at all possible, or return it asap because they know you won't waste their time.

This may be a new approach; however it can be the beginning of a career path for some of your employees, plus in all our years as staffing firm owner/operators we could name maybe five individuals who did both jobs equally well and enjoyed either role. Most prefer to make recruiting calls where they are in control. Find those special ones who want to bring in business.

Some staffing firms hire highly competitive athletes in their first 2-3 years after College or University.

We believe most staff members want to be productive contributors to the firms' profitability but they may get confused with the many choices, some which appear conflicting, that they have to make each day. While younger staff members may be more prone to this lack of clarity; it can affect staff of all ages and experience levels especially at busy and hectic times.

Much of this analysis can be conducted by your own observations; however, to be effective you must almost be like "the fly on the wall".

Your presence as an observer, unless it is regularly part of the way you work, will likely change the scope and nature of your staff's actions. This could be helpful short-term but it may not be sustainable and it may just mask the broader issues. If there is another individual on your staff that may work with them regularly it may pose less of a threat to them as they wouldn't be wondering why you are hanging around so often, all of a sudden. Adding to their anxiety will rarely help them perform openly and effectively.

Whoever provides the oversight, needs to provide feedback to the individual that it is intended to help and make sure it is received that way, rather than collecting evidence to eventually terminate their employment.

Sometimes, a candid individual talk (preferred) or group discussion to explain why you are hanging out with them so much may help. The oversight provider may need some training in how to deliver these types of messages so they can be delivered with sensitivity, while clearly pointing out how the additional help can improve the employee's performance. The idea is to build confidence rather than coming across as someone who caught them "messing up" on the job and will make them pay someday.

At times, this two-step analysis may require the assistance of a seasoned and objective observer who is not part of your everyday organization. Ideally it would be someone who knows our business and is not too close to the operation to enhance their objectivity.

It could be an industry savvy consultant or even a friendly geographically and/or sector distant competitor whom you trust.

This individual must be able to gain the trust of your staff to ensure they are not just being told what your staff member thinks they want to hear.

This outsider should also be able to work through any inconsistent answers and be able to verify many of the ten basic questions listed above to their own standards.

Does the performer understand their objectives, do they like their job or are the just waiting for something different to come along? Ask them where they run into difficulties in doing their job?

Once the challenges and reasons for them are identified, your consultant can work with you to review your existing plans and approaches and recommend changes that will bring better results for your business.

If an employee has the intelligence to do their job (most do) and the attitude of sticking with each assignment and the work ethic to make enough contacts that drives them to obtain results-you should have a winner eventually.

The hardest areas to overcome are a poor work ethic or a non-working attitude in employees; in these cases, you are often better to forget about reforming that individual -unless you are an experienced Psychologist or Counselor and see that as part of your job. Unless you are prepared to sit on them every day to motivate them to do their job, move on, not all employees want to succeed in every job they have.

I doubt you have the time to be their Social Worker, even if you were so inclined, plus your staff notices every other employee in their work area and shouldn't judge things by the way you treat that one individual, it can be misleading without any context.

Know that a non- worker can be a morale killer if allowed to collect a complete pay check for doing half their job. This is not a sign of an owner running their business.

Over time, business results should improve, morale will improve, the fun will return to everyday activities, your staff and customer turnover should decline and most importantly, you as the owner may feel once again that you are running your business, not your business running you. Now you can hold on or sell your business with confidence.

Life is short; make your business work for you!