When assessing a business for acquisition or turnaround, focus on six basics – Management, Assets, Strategy, Revenue, Costs, and Potential synergies/M&A. What might look good on a spreadsheet or a presentation often fails one or more basic. Be ready to make quick changes.

Too often, we get enamored with the potential of a business or our ability to successfully get it from here to there. Without an extraordinary strength in one of these, a failure in others will lead to business failure. Most businesses don’t have the resources to overcome an existential weakness in one of the six essential elements. That doesn’t mean there aren’t exceptions – but they generally had an overwhelming strength in one or more of the six to compensate.

The business or turnaround will likely fail without the basics covered or compensated for.

#focus