If you feel stuck in your company, we share with you 30 points that will give you a better perspective on the problem.

As a management consultant, I have written 30 points for you that will allow you to look at the problem from a better perspective. Stagnation is not a complex mystery, but rather the result of simple questions that were not asked at the right time.

1. Why were we profitable before, but not now?

• Theory: Value Creation Theory states that profit is the result of a balance between price, cost, and demand. Any imbalance in one of them changes the outcome, even if the activity remains the same.

2. Has the market changed, or are we the ones who lagged behind?

• Theory: Strategic Drift Theory assumes that the real danger lies in operating on assumptions that are no longer correct. Strategy fails when it does not change with reality.

3. Is the problem in sales?

• Theory: Brand-Market Fit Theory confirms that a decline in demand is often because the solution no longer addresses a real pain point. Sales are the last symptom of the problem, not its cause.

4. Why are we working more but achieving less?

• Theory: Activity vs. Impact Theory distinguishes between work that merely consumes time and effort versus work that creates value. Increasing effort in the wrong place accelerates failure.

5. Are the competitors better?

• Theory: Competitive Advantage Theory states that excellence is not achieved by being good at everything, but rather by mastering one thing that is difficult to imitate.

6. Did we expand at an inappropriate time?

• Theory: Replicability Theory assumes that expanding before stabilizing the core business model amplifies errors instead of profits.

7. Why is liquidity always tight?

• Theory: Cash Flow Theory notes that companies do not fail because of profits, but because of cash. Growth that consumes cash is more dangerous than sustaining a loss.

8. Where is the money going?

• Theory: Quality of Earnings Theory distinguishes between accounting profit and cash-convertible profit. The gap between them marks the beginning of stagnation.

9. Has the team lost its enthusiasm?

• Theory: Motivation Theory indicates that a lack of purpose and direction dampens enthusiasm faster than low salaries.

10. Why do hardworking employees leave?

• Theory: Human Capital Theory states that talented people leave when trust erodes or when professional growth stops.

11. Is the problem in management, or is it me?

• Theory: Self-Leadership Theory assumes that the bottleneck in small companies is often the founder themselves.

12. Has the company grown faster than its capacity?

• Theory: Institutional Maturity Theory states that each stage of growth requires different systems. What succeeded in one stage becomes a burden in the next.

13. Are we working without a system?

• Theory: People-Dependency Theory emphasizes that performance built solely on individuals cannot sustain itself without them. Systems are what transform individual effort into an institution.

14. Are our decisions chaotic?

• Theory: Decision Under Pressure Theory clarifies that fear produces short-term decisions that destroy the long-term path.

15. Do we know our customers?

• Theory: Value Concentration Theory states that not all revenues are equal. The most important customers are those who generate the highest value, not just the highest number.

16. Why have customer complaints increased?

• Theory: Customer Experience Theory assumes that satisfaction breaks down at a single unmanaged touchpoint, rather than across the entire experience.

17. Has quality declined?

• Theory: Operations Theory indicates that quality is the result of a system, not the result of good intentions or individual diligence.

18. Is the pricing wrong?

• Theory: Value-Based Pricing Theory confirms that the right price is built on what the customer perceives, not on the costs you incur.

19. Is relying on a few customers risky?

• Theory: Revenue Concentration Theory states that genuine diversification protects sustainability, while superficial diversification creates an illusion of safety.

20. What if we lose our biggest customer?

• Theory: Concentrated Risk Theory explains that a major customer can be an asset or a threat depending on how they are managed.

21. Does the team understand the direction?

• Theory: Strategy Translation Theory emphasizes that a strategy that does not translate into daily decisions remains unimplemented.

22. Are meetings leading to no results?

• Theory: Decision Paralysis Theory states that excessive discussion without a resolution is an advanced form of avoidance.

23. Are we afraid of saying "no"?

• Theory: Opportunity Cost Theory assumes that every uncalculated "yes" is a "no" to a better opportunity.

24. Are we adding useless services?

• Theory: Incremental Complexity Theory clarifies that uncontrolled horizontal expansion kills both focus and profitability.

25. Are we spending without a return?

• Theory: Capital Allocation Theory states that every expense must be justified by creating value or protecting a competitive advantage.

26. Are we postponing problems?

• Theory: Slow Decline Theory explains that most companies do not collapse suddenly; instead, they slowly erode.

27. Do we know our destination?

• Theory: Strategic Path Theory assumes that the absence of a clear decision today produces an inevitable trap tomorrow.

28. Has the company become a burden?

• Theory: Business Model Theory states that a successful project must serve its owner's life, not consume it.

29. Have you lost your passion?

• Theory: Founder's Role Evolution Theory explains that losing passion is often caused by an unconscious shift in one's role.

30. Do we still understand our game?

• Theory: Reinvention Theory confirms that the most dangerous moment is continuing to do things the exact same way after the context has changed.

mohammed bin saleh