Ready to Let Go?  Decision Making for Manufacturers

Decision Making on Advisors - Speed Networking Event
Decision Making for Growth - Helen Lennie, Sales & Marketing Director, Signature Prints
Women in Manufacturing Network Christmas Expo
Ready to Grow?  Understand the Fundamentals of Costs and Prices
Western Sydney Manufacturing Week - Women in Manufacturing Lunch Ready to Go:  Exporting the Goods
Ready to Let Go?  Decision Making for Manufacturers
Ready to Know?  A Fresh Approach to Identifying Customers
Networking to the Next Level
Unleash the Creative Thinker in You:  Innovative thinking for People and Product Development

On 26 April 2007, members of the Women in Manufacturing Network and guests enjoyed the rare opportunity to hear from three dynamic women speak openly about their experiences advising clients riding the rollercoaster of growing their businesses or making decisions about letting go:  whether to step back from day to day operations, hand the business onto a family member or sell out altogether.

Elizabeth Devine, workplace law expert and principal of Devine Law at Work shared her experiences advising diverse companies on their responsibilities in ensuring the legal bases are covered, particularly in setting out the expectations of employees and employers, whether family members or not.  It was encouraging to note that, in her experience, most employers' and employees’ demands are reasonable and that the vast majority are trying to do the right thing.

Julie Godfrey, consultant and advisor to family-owned companies with The Continuity Alliance, talked about guiding companies through the process of divesting and some of the pitfalls along the way, especially when the expectations are not spelled out at the beginning.  She also touched on the point that more value can sometimes be created when founders step back from the business, a fact that does not sit well for many business owners.
 
Finally, Louise Woodbury, CEO of consultancy Quantum Dynamics and co-author of How to grow your business by taking three months off, revealed how stepping back from her own business and teaching clients how to do the same can have many and varied personal and business benefits.

Moderated by Carolyn Evans, independent management consultant and Managing Director of ThinkEvans, the panel shared their personal experiences in setting up their own businesses, and particularly focused on the issues that affect many burgeoning businesses, including knowing which clients to say "no" to, and making many other critical personal and business decisions about protecting your integrity, deciding to run a business rather than merely giving yourself a job, knowing when personal limits have been reached and when and how to sack bad clients.

All three panellists were willing to candidly reveal their mistakes and good judgments which gave enormous food for thought for women running their own manufacturing businesses, or advising their clients in manufacturing and other businesses of relevance to the Network.

Top of Page