Case Story: Managing a successful separation
There's an unpleasant truth: businesses sometimes fail because of a breakdown between the principals. If that happens, chances are, it will end in tears and both parties will walk away with no ongoing business but a hat full of resentment. However, this need not be the case, as the Peter Charles team proved recently.
A pioneering internet survey technology company provided marketers and companies tools to track customer feedback. The two man team behind the business provided the perfect combination: a technical expert to focus on delivery of a viable produce and a business developer to go out and wow the market.
It didn't quite work out and problems quickly began to emerge. The internet market moves fast and while the product was sound, the business development partner found the market was saying it didn't need that particular internet business survey tool at that price. The company was competing with products that could satisfy market demand for a tenth of the price of their offering. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be a message the technical partner seemed willing or able to accept. He did not like talking to the market and he was of the opinion the business should 'stick to its guns' both in terms of the product and the pricing. By adopting such a strategy, the business development director could only see disaster. The technical director, on the other hand, was frustrated by the apparent failure to deliver the promised big customers.
There was a serious breakdown of understanding and trust between the two and it was difficult to see a way out. That was when the Peter Charles team was introduced. They simply ascertained the company's original business strategy and from there, determined how the principals' perspectives and view had changed. They were able to work with both sides (who were no longer working as a team), establish their individual motives and then find some middle ground. The Peter Charles team acted as a buffer between the two conflicting directors, translating what one was saying in a way which was understandable to the other. That way, proposals acceptable to both were tabled and eventually used as the basis of decisions for the way ahead for the business.
By understanding the motivation of both parties, a genuinely win-win deal where the technical partner came away with the technology — which he saw that as the jewel in the crown — and the business development principal, who was still convinced there was business in the customer feedback market, kept the shell of the company. The Peter Charles team made it possible to extract the technology, both legally and commercially, from the company without preventing the business from moving forward. Each director got what they wanted. The original idea was a good one and both directors went on to build thriving companies based on it. Had they not taken action, they would quickly have lost their early mover advantage.
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