One of the biggest problems I see when repairing businesses where the owners who have left the corporate world have gotten into trouble is not necessarily in the planning, but in the fact that they confuse working in a company with owning and running one. There are two entire jobs that need to be done that have no mentor in that model.

The job of ownership, which includes everything from understanding how cash behaves, to what employee taxes need to be paid and when, to how to hire a bookkeeper who is honest and who actually knows how to give you a proper score. There is much more to it than that, but that's a start.

The job of President includes planning and then managing to that plan. It includes a little psychology, some sociology, and a system's approach to setting things up. If the President starts working inside the business rather than at a level that is meant to hold it all together, then he or she will likely never extract themselves from it. This behavior has consumed and bankrupted many business owners.

Learning how to be a President and a Business Owner would be the first step in my opinion.

I hope this helps.

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Sue Canyon