by Ronald Manalastas

Created on: April 29, 2008

It is an intricate exercise to pinpoint what measures can be done when the future of a business is unclear. The issue represents a crossroad situation requiring no-nonsense technical and intuitive analysis. The challenge comes at a time in the life of the business where all the stakes - people, money, structure, technology, systems, rights, obligations, relationships, and image - have been put into place.

Whatever preconceived notions that management might have on the business because of its unclear future, whether to continue and streamline, sell to new investors, or cease operations, the span and complexity of the analytical requirement remains the same for all options. In fact, it is a professionally demanding task, even more difficult than visioning the future of the business during its inception.

My management and consulting experience tells me that the horizon of having a good glimpse of the future becomes even more sketchy and nebulous if the company had evolved from a loose business platform that lacked solid research and planning foundation. In many instances, companies are hurriedly set up to corner immediate business opportunities, either chanced upon by the owners, tipped off by a friend or relative, prompted by a fad or trend, or driven by some success story for which investments are made without much critical thinking.

It is a global business reality that most organizations, those loosely conceived on the "fast money, fast growth" perspective, usually do not live long to see their future. While organizations, predicated upon and guided by well-meaning strategic plans demonstrate a common capacity to outlive their initial business charter.

As it appears, "what to do with an unclear business future" is a current, true-to-business-life issue that leads us back to the basic organizational assumption of treating a business as a "going concern." This tenet postulates that any business venture must be set up for long-term continuity, sufficiently provisioned to respond to the external, competitive, and internal factors affecting the viability of the enterprise. Otherwise, there is no basis for mobilizing a new investment that is barren of meaningful business and social significance. The inclusion of the social component draws enormous importance from the fact that every business is inherently impressed with the responsibility to be a partner of society in the development and growth of national interest.

The cardinal rule from a professional standpoint on

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