Hey, I was in relatively good health. I enjoyed good food and maintained an exercise regimen that consisted of brisk morning walks with my dog and playing golf (albeit poorly). These small lumps in my neck couldn’t be anything serious, could they?

Much to my astonishment, I was diagnosed in the spring of 2006 with one of the many varieties of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. On top of that, my case was only the 20th documented one (of this variety) in the world. My oncologist said I would succumb to the disease inside of a year, if I chose to do nothing.

Talk about being hit in the face with a bucket of cold water! Still, the purpose of this month’s column is not to solicit sympathy for my plight. As a matter of fact, I completed three months of chemotherapy, one month of radiation treatments, and received nine sets of scans over the last three years indicating there is no evidence of the cancer present. Pretty cool, huh? If I accumulate five years of similar results, I can officially claim the disease to be in remission. I can’t wait for that.

But, in traveling from initial diagnosis to becoming disease- and medication-free, I learned some things that, I believe, have direct relevance to successfully running a sign and digital graphics business. Please allow me to explain.

AN OUNCE OF DETECTION

You are the steward and caretaker of your business, correct? Perhaps your business is operating without obvious hitch or hiccup, other than the challenges of this economy. Hopefully, there are no telltale signs of a serious internal malady. But when was the last time you gave it a thorough check-up? Do you subject your business to a physical examination annually? You should, you know.

Such a practice doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming. Engage the expertise of your everyday, already-retained business advisors and service providers. Ask your banker and/or accountant for an assessment of your company’s financial statements. Is the business fiscally healthy? Insist on them explaining each line and section. Your lawyer should be able to give you some guidance as to how up-to-date and practical your business’s official documents and policies are, as a matter of courtesy. If you don’t have a lawyer on retainer, Wisconsin-based J.J. Keller & Associates offers a 30-day trial of its Prospera online people-management tool to help you write or update employee and company policy manuals.

Consider soliciting the assistance of an outside business consultant—you may find one in your neighborhood through your local Chamber of Commerce or small-business-development center at the nearest college or university—and work with them to analyze your company’s business processes. A good business development consultant should be able to help you revise, refine and renew your basic business plan and assist in the creation of strategic planning. Through such planning, you should be able to realize a healthier bottom line by increasing sales, boosting profitability and productivity, and reducing or containing costs and waste. The plan will show you how much is at stake. It is still your obligation to make the plan happen. But more on that later.

Many business owners aren’t aware that such assessments are available just for the asking. What’s the worst that can happen? You learn that a full-blown audit of your operation is cost-prohibitive? Then don’t do it. Settle for what you can comfortably afford or for what is available to you for free. Most important, turning a blind eye to the shortcomings of your company is not a smart or viable option. If I had ignored the minor aches and pains I experienced early on in my situation, I’m certain the treatment would have been more radical and the prognosis less favorable. I caught my cancer early. Don’t allow a “cancer” in your business to fester.

DON'T FIGHT THE TREATMENT

I remember the exact moment I was told I had lymphoma. My family and I experienced the five emotional stages that Elisabeth Kubler-Ross outlined in her book “On Death and Dying.” Luckily, I had studied her findings while in college and understood that I, too, would need to pass through denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. When you become aware of a potentially serious condition in your business organization, recognize your reaction and handling of the news through each of the five stages.

Burying your head in the sand (denial) or finger-pointing (anger) will not reverse the root cause of the problem. Also, anticipate that you will try to alleviate the condition through horse-trading and compromise with healthier factions within the business (bargaining) or allow the effect of the problem to consume your every thought and deed, paralyzing you into non-action (depression). The first four stages are normal and necessary in order to break through to a comprehensive problem analysis and “treatment” plan. Some commonly found “cancers” lurking within sign and digital graphic businesses these days include:

• Not dedicating enough time to prospecting and keeping the sales pipeline full of promising and profitable opportunities;
• Taking convenient short cuts in the production process that result in higher than acceptable reject rates at the end of the line;
• A steady and/or significant decrease in cash flow through the business;
• Ignoring the competition and resting on your laurels technologically;
• Failure to set key business goals and consistently measure progress made;
• Reduced personal contact with customers and prospects in order to remain appraised of their strongest unmet needs and unfulfilled desires.

Before I began chemo and radiation therapies, my oncologists put me through a battery of tests and procedures. Among them, I had a bone marrow biopsy and cardiogram to see if my body would be able to withstand the treatment and how widespread the disease had become. Likewise, once you detect an “unfavorable condition” within your business, take the time to determine how pervasive the problem is and whether the organization will be able to tolerate the side effects of various possible cures.

If you’ve attempted what has been suggested thus far in this article, you now should be in a position to design a solution. Of course, the solution will involve change. There is an old saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again, and expecting a different outcome. You can ill afford to continue to do what you’ve always done. And don’t kid yourself: The treatment will have side effects, sometimes serious.

Whatever solution is prescribed for your corporate condition, do not expect it to be painless without costing valuable resources of time, money, personnel and so on. So once new practices are implemented, don’t abandon the solution at the first sign of discomfort.

Don’t fight the treatment—embrace it. Educate your team of the potential fallout or obstacles they will need to endure and overcome. Utilize tolerance as a medication to ease a minor setback or two. Keep spirits high that your company will be able to weather this storm and triumph. Focus on the goal: To eradicate the debilitating condition—whatever specific one it is for your business—once and for all. Develop an attitude of laughing in the face of adversity and trust that the well-thought-out, time-tested, proven treatment plan you’ve selected will eventually pay huge dividends, if carried out to a tee.

HOLDING THE GAINS

Recently, I read an online news item written by a prostate cancer survivor titled “The cancer’s gone, so where’s my confidence?” In it he wrote that, after he was given a clean bill-of-health, he discovered he had become indecisive over the smallest things, a general sense of dread washed over him, and he felt nagging visions of spectacular failures at work and in life. I can relate to his experience. There’s no accounting for the toll cancer and its treatment takes on one’s mind and self-confidence.

Logically, a business organization that has claimed victory over a nemesis may want to assess the lasting and on-going effects of its ordeal. Passage through a difficult time is a significant emotional event in the life of such an organization. Think of what General Motors will need to deal with, if and when it emerges from its financial woes.

Once you walk through the fire, make permanent changes that you know are necessary to reduce the chances of ever having to face the same dilemma again. Call it holding the gains. In my case, I believe I’ve smoked my last cigar. My eating and drinking habits have been altered dramatically. My new work habits, spirituality and perspective on my own mortality have, I believe, made me into a better man.

Likewise, plan to celebrate your business’s success. One way to do so is to begin to study and tackle the next most important area for improvement. Another is to “pay it forward,” publishing your solution so that other organizations facing similar circumstances don’t have to re-invent their similar wheels.

Regardless, keep moving ahead. Spend little to no time looking backward—dwelling on what could have been—except to remind yourself not to revert back to your misguided ways. Take it from someone who’s been there: Your return on this investment will be tenfold. Good luck... and good health!