My father was a self-made business entrepreneur. He practiced his business ownership successfully for over 40 years before he passed away. One of his favorite comments when he was able to share it with other people was to remind them that the news was a business. He would say, "Be careful with watching the news...it is only a business...they are telling you exactly what you want to hear just enough to keep them away from getting sued. It sells advertising. They have a neat knack for pushing your limits to draw you in. The ones who draw more in can earn more advertising dollars. Get used to it. News is just a business."
He was correct. They sell what you want to hear. That is their primary goal. They are in the business of selling their stuff to attract more readership, a larger audience. Ratings become their primary goal.
When I operated my retail store front the television, newspaper and radio representatives would always come by to sell advertising programs for me to consider. They would pull out of their bags some data sheets to prove how large their audience had become. They would point out the measurable demographics to make a case for me to use their advertising potential. They would sell time and space to increase revenues for the programing they produced. It was clearly a serious business model.
They would make deals that centered around the Cosby Show, the NFL, the NBA or the evening news. They tried to get your top dollars to plant your exposure near their most watched programming. This is where they made the most money. This is where they could convince you to speak to the largest audiences about what your business had to offer. Business to business, this is how it works behind the scenes of "Restaurant Impossible" and the "Undercover Boss." They sell advertising. They make money doing this kind of thing.
Now that we have cleared the way for the message behind this post, let's see why this understanding is so important to see. First of all, fixing up a broken eatery that is destined to fail does not and cannot happen in just one week. Only for television will that impression come to life. It sells well. The programming experts behind the business model of "Restaurant Impossible" know this to be true. However, they must capture your complete attention in that thirty minute segment to make you want to come back while telling others how much you enjoy seeing them fight through the resistance and immediately help others to win. It sells well to a lot of hearts. It works well to increase the audience support. Unfortunately, it is not the truth in how it really works. No business, headed for failure, can be repaired in just one week. That is simply fairy tale stuff. It is only good for TV.
The same holds true for "Undercover Boss." No boss can go behind the scenes, see a lot of ill-fated things going on, and return two weeks later to have them all fixed up and gone for good. This only happens cleanly on TV. It sells well. Oh, I know, they give little snippets in written captions that report how each problem is doing months later. They run those captions across the bottom of the screens for the viewer to read near the end of the current series. That sells well, too. Did you know that? It does. Many times, it is not made up of completely true stuff. Did you know that? I am sorry if I have burst anyone's bubble on this piece of news. Be reminded, these programs know what you want to hear, how you want it delivered and why you will come back to honor what they need you to honor. It is their business to do this stuff very well...and they do.
Page two.
I live in a small town. I watched "Restaurant Impossible" do its thing with a dying restaurant in our community. It went big time on the air several months later. I watched the program, knew the heart of the problem and am very close friends with the local owners and principles involved with that particular restaurant. I also spend my business life doing business repair as a consultant. I see messy stuff, failing ways and stubborn resistance for making the right things come to life and stick around. I am deeply aware of the challenges a small business faces when they finally admit they need help. It is a tall mountain to face. These programs find profit inside this challenge. That's what they do best.
Here's the deal. These programs generate the image that a big business problem can be repaired in just a short time. They represent a complete set of business resolves that can happen quickly if the leadership will only comply to a few tough changes. All becomes well when these tweaks are made, almost instantaneously.
Well, that just does not happen. It does not work this way nor in this simple format. Tough changes take a much longer time to become permanently well in a struggling machine. We all know this is really the truth. But it does not sell as well. Humans want a much quicker result that provides a much easier return. These programs offer the audience that kind of solution. It sells well.
I bumped into one of my business associates a couple of weeks ago while I was working in the office of one of my struggling business clients. Immediately he made the comment that he knew why I was there. He knows I fix the broken ones. He asked if I was working on what they owed him. I had already seen the amount of the debt they had with him, a week earlier, when I finished my accounting assessments of this troubled business model. When he asked me if I was working on his owed amount, I replied by telling him the exact amount that was due. His eyes lit up. I repeated it to the cent. Even he did not know that balance to the penny. This was his first comment to my reply, "Oh, I guess I will wait until you get this all fixed and send me my share. Call me, I am glad they have this one in good hands now." As he turned to leave the office, he stopped. When he turned around, he said this, "You are like that guy, Robert, on Restaurant Impossible. You turn 'em around in two weeks and off you go."
This is the danger these types of programs produce. The public believes these deeply tired business models can be repaired in just two weeks. The human being loves to live on the edge of immediacy. We love to circle the fairy tale ways. No deeply broken business model will be able to be repaired permanently in just two weeks. That is just not how it works. It takes time. It takes arduous efforts and complicated changes to work their way back to the long term production that will once again bring about better results than what was happening during the troubled years. It is a very long and slow process.
As he walked out of that business office, I said, "Don't be fooled by the glitz of TV. This repair will take a long time to complete. Robert produces a made for TV view that draws you in, but it is certainly not real and exactly opposite of what really happens. We will get your debt resolved but it will take some time. We appreciate your help, man." He looked at me for a long time. His face went from smiles to reality. It was not what he wanted to hear. That is exactly where be begin our faults in the art of repair. We do not like what we need to hear.
By the way. Our local restaurant that had the caption run across the bottom of the screen and describe to the viewing public how well they have done on "Restaurant Impossible"...is likely going to go out of business soon. I know their debtors well and time is almost up. The partners have separated their business ways and one of them has moved to relocate across the country. The remaining debts are overwhelming still and the customers are not flowing in well enough to dig it out. Their immediate repairs sold well for the TV crowd and the locals got easily caught up in the stardom ways, but the long term problems still exist. No big repair can occur in just one week of change. Those illusions only make good films.
If your business is in repair, make sure you avoid the one week programs. They do not work. They never have and they never will. That is the 'reality' truth. Stop the filming and get serious on doing what needs to be done. Learn how to roll up your sleeves, wear some long term pain and begin to work overtime on fixing what is going wrong. It will be one of the most difficult things your business will ever attempt. No audience will wait as long as you need to wait to make this business produce the changes that will hold better long term results. It simply takes a much longer time to do. It can take years, my friend...years. I know that is not what you wanted to hear. Unfortunately, it is the truth. Now get going. The sooner you make the right changes, gut the wrongs and improve the efforts...the sooner the time for failure goes away. That is the bone honest truth. It just does not sell well.
Until next time...
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