Business Fitness

Any business about to make a step change of whatever kind, be it a new product, market or acquisition needs to be aware of the fitness of their business for the transition about to take place. Is the brand ready? are the team all behind the project? what will happen to the current portfolio, and how will the change impact upon the company's ability to continue to grow organically?

If the company is approaching a new international market, are all of the pieces in place to enable you to trade and are your bank onside? In short do you have the people, capacity, skills and strength in depth to be able to change gear and accelerate forward?

It was interesting to see that amongst the highly charged atmosphere following the collapse of the Pru's deal to acquire AIA, that they were able to report some very respectable growth figures proving that whatever else they may have got wrong, business fitness wasn't an issue.

Time will tell whether the damage to the Chairman and the CEO from the failure is terminal, but I suspect that whatever the outcome, the company is geared for organic growth which is probably why the shareholders will continue to back one or both of them.

Most companies will not be looking at $30bn+ events, but all need to be aware that the first step in any step change plan must be a business fitness health check. If the Board are unable to tick all of the boxes straightaway, take the foot off the accelerator to get things right before moving on. It takes courage, but just imagine the impact if the deal falls through AND the business has gone into decline.