Seemed like a good idea at the time

 

The current economic data point to the fact that the last weeks of 2012 are going to be a difficult time for all. As domestic budgets are ever more squeezed this will impact on businesses across the board.

The latest results from Supermarket chain Morrison, one of the UK's big four grocers, has reported another quarterly drop in sales, citing "fragile" consumer confidence.

The trading environment "has remained challenging", the supermarket said, and sales "were lower than anticipated".

This is an appropriate time to conduct a root and branch analysis of your business. Undoubtedly there are areas which would benefit from some radical adjustments/ change of direction. The consequence is not acting now could have very negative effects in the next few months.

Now is the opportunity to prepare for difficult times rather than adopting an ostrich "head in the sand" attitude.

When trying to explain a the outcome of a failed strategy to your Shareholders or Bankers it will be of little comfort to trot out the tired old defence “it seemed like a good idea at the time”.