COACHING
Verne Harnish:
Tracking Two Numbers Daily Turned This Company Around
W
Sam Hyder revived
the nearly 50-year-
old company his
grandfather started
by making some
painful
decisions
and learning how to
keep it profitable
on a daily basis.
2
|
FALL 2017
hen Sam Hyder took
the helm of Geographe
Enterprises, he faced a
trial by fire. His 48-year-
old firm designs and
manufactures aftermarket parts for
mining equipment, distributing it
throughout Australia, Indonesia and
South Africa. With the mining industry
in a slump as Hyder began leading
Geographe in 2012, demand for its
products had dropped sharply. By
2013, revenue had plummeted from
USD $20.5 million to $16.7 million.
But Hyder and his team quickly
managed to turn around the company
his grandfather Neville Hyder had
started. Today, Geographe is on track
for revenue of $30 million and record
profits.
TWO CRITICAL NUMBERS
Hyder and his team orchestrated the
turnaround by focusing on two key
numbers. Starting in 2013, they began
working with a coach who advised
them to turn their attention to both daily
sales and daily operating expense-
every day and sometimes every hour.
Their goal was to make the company
profitable on a daily basis and, once
the company achieved that goal, to
keep it that way every day.