I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.
TBS subscribers are founders, principals, owners, and managers of micro, small and mid-sized businesses. From self-employed one-person operations, through to corporates with hundreds of employees and eight-figure revenues.
Some are people who have an idea for their business, but haven’t started yet.
I’m Australian and the businesses I work with are Australian. But if you’re from someplace else – the concepts I describe are universal. There will be something for you here, and I welcome you to the TBS crew!
Thrive And Survive
TBS is centred on the idea that every successful and enduring business is configured to:
Thrive through the good times, and
Survive through the bad times.
Yup. That’s growth plus resilience. Your business can have both if you want.
This Is What Usually Happens
Successful businesses make great bank during the good times. Surely there’s no reason to think it won’t be the same tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that.
Until one day, it’s not the same.
Bad stuff happens. The next pandemic, recession, cyberattack, war, climate crisis, whatever - these happen without notice. The market tips sideways, the business doesn’t adjust, and before they fully grasp the danger - boom! They’re gone.
Out of cash, out of business. Every time.
But For Some, Growth Continues
They find a way through. They’re resilient.
Resilient businesses plan for when things don’t go so well. In good times they prepare for hard times, like squirrels and preppers. They build and hold resources. They implement business processes that help them scale up or down quickly. They grow the balls to make tough calls.
And Now, The Banana Stand
TBS may or may not be for you.
TBS is designed to help move eyes-wide-open business owners toward what they can do to bulletproof their business.
Bulletproof means resilience. Plus growth. Plus turnaround, if you’re on struggle street.
It doesn’t matter what market your business serves, what your business does, where you operate from, who you are, or how big your business is. Business is not rocket science.
The principles of good business practice are known.
TBS is here to remind you of them, with a central focus on resilience and sustainable growth.
I’m Mark
I’m on the for-profit side of business and have been for pretty much my whole working life.
My back-of-house covers manufacturing, consulting, and biotech.
My front-of-house includes governance, business management and administration, research/ development/ extension services, sales, and engineering (the original type, with nuts and bolts).
I’ve been in, or adjacent to, the C-suite for over two decades.
I don’t claim objectivity, eternal truth, or even originality. I have the shallowest understanding of politics, philosophy, psychology, and the arts - these are dark side and I steer way clear.
But I know how business works.
What I write here has its roots, mostly, in other people’s thoughts. I interpret them against my own experience and write about them here. Please take on board everything that makes sense to you. Adopt or adapt for your purposes. Reject anything that’s not applicable or goes against your own experience.
