Rising From Crisis: How I Turn Panic Into Profit
by Bill Canady in Blog, Podcast
October 31, 2025
From Panic to Profit: What I Shared on the Business Leader Podcast
In my recent feature on the Business Leader Podcast with Josh Dore, we explored one of my favorite topics: what it really takes to turn a struggling business around. Over my career, I have led organizations from under a million dollars to billions, and the lessons I have learned about leadership, clarity, and resilience are universal.
When you are running a company, the need for a turnaround can sneak up on you. Everything can look fine until suddenly it is not. You realize growth has stalled, cash is tight, and the team has lost focus. That is the moment where leadership matters most.
Knowing When to Fire Yourself
One of the hardest truths in business is that sometimes leaders outgrow their own companies. I have seen it countless times, and I have even lived it myself. Most of us are not serial CEOs. We build something from scratch, we nurture it, and at some point, we become the very reason it cannot grow further.
There is no shame in recognizing that. The greatest gift in leadership is self-awareness. Knowing what you are great at and what you are not is essential. You do not need to do it all yourself. There are people who can take what you built and help it flourish.
The best leaders I have worked with have had the courage to “fire themselves” from the CEO role when they realized someone else could take the company further. That kind of humility can save a business and even create the next stage of its growth story.
The CEO’s Job: Define the Goal
One thing I have always said is that if your team cannot clearly state your company’s goal, that is not their fault, it is yours. Every time I take over a new organization, I sit down with the leadership team and ask one question: “What is our goal?”
You would be amazed how rarely everyone gives the same answer. One person says revenue, another says market share, another says new products. But if the team is not aligned around a single clear objective, how can you expect them to reach it?
Clarity is power. When everyone knows the true destination, they can finally start moving in the same direction.
How We Turned a Pandemic Crisis into 48 Percent Growth
During the pandemic, I took over a company that was in real trouble. Our people had gone remote, communication had broken down, and the business was bleeding cash.
On my first week, I walked into our Columbus, Ohio office, only to find the power company turning off the electricity. Not because we did not have the money, but because no one had been there to pay the bill. That moment told me everything I needed to know about where we stood.
We had 90 days of cash left. So, we gathered the team, faced the reality, and built a plan to save ourselves. The result? We turned the company around and grew it by 48 percent in just 18 months. That happened because we were brutally honest about where we were, clear about where we were going, and relentless in execution.
You Are Not Failing, You Are at an Inflection Point
When you hit a wall as a leader, it is easy to fall into imposter syndrome or think you have failed. But needing a turnaround does not mean you failed; it means you reached an inflection point. It is a signal to evolve.
You have already accomplished what many never will — you built something that works. Now it is about scaling, transforming, and preparing the business to thrive without you being in every detail.
If you broke your leg, you would not try to fix it by reading a medical book and grabbing a knife. You would see a doctor. Business is no different. Find help — a coach, a peer, a trusted advisor — and get back on the path to growth.
The Power of a Single Win
If you take one thing away, let it be this: just make something happen. Write down your top ten priorities, cross off nine, and focus on one.
When you and your team rally around a single, meaningful goal and achieve it, everything changes. People feel ownership again. They start to believe.
You can either be the company that had its power turned off, or the company that turned it back on. Choose to be the one that turned it back on.
Final Thoughts
That is what From Panic to Profit is all about: rediscovering clarity, leading with confidence, and creating momentum in the moments that matter most.
No matter how tough things get, remember that leadership is not about never falling — it is about how you rise, how you bring your team with you, and how you turn crisis into opportunity.
Josh Dore
[00:00]
What if you could grow your business faster just by surrounding yourself with the right people?
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Whether you’re stuck in the day-to-day or planning your next big leap, you don’t have to do it alone. Our members include founders and CEOs you’ve heard right here on this podcast, and they’re seeing real results.
If your business turns over at least £3 million a year and you’re ready to grow further, apply now for our next free growth workshop or book a consultation call. Spots are limited. Head to businessleader.co.uk to get started.
Josh Dore
[01:15]
There’s something magnetic about a comeback, about a turnaround. A team defying the odds. A brand reborn. A person rewriting their story.
In business, the need for a comeback or turnaround can sneak up on you before you know it. At some point, every leader faces the question: What do you do when the numbers stall, the culture sours, or the future gets foggy?
Our guest today knows a lot about pulling companies back from the brink and propelling them further than they imagined.
I’m Josh Dore, and this is The Business Leader Podcast.
In today’s episode, we speak with Bill Canady, who has spent more than three decades leading businesses worldwide, from under-a-million-dollar startups to multi-billion-dollar enterprises.
Over his career, he has earned a reputation as a turnaround specialist and has distilled his experience into his book, From Panic to Profit.
Bill Canady
[02:35]
When I look back over my career, I can’t believe it’s been over 30 years. I was looking at myself in the mirror the other day thinking, “Who is this old person?”
If I can be a little egotistical and say I’m pretty good at what I do, it’s only because I’ve made so many mistakes getting here. I’ve been fortunate to build great teams around me, and I’m blessed to work with amazing people.
Through the years, we’ve learned a few big lessons that make a huge difference. The first is that you have to have a team that’s dedicated and truly wants to make something happen.
Where people often go wrong is twofold. They either follow their gut on what’s interesting instead of what’s important, or they rely only on instinct without enough data.
We drive change through data. Now, it takes more than data; otherwise, we’d just be robots and AI doing everything. But using the data and tools available, like AI, makes it so much faster. What used to take days to analyze, we can now process in minutes and know what’s really happening.
Still, it takes people. It takes experience to look at that data and say, “Given this situation, what are we going to do?”
Over the years, we’ve refined what works. Today, I’ve been fortunate to serve as CEO of several companies around the world. I currently lead a large mid-market company in the power sports industry, about $1.5 billion in revenue, and I also chair an industrial products business of about $1 billion.
We apply the same models to companies from under $1 million to over $5 billion, and we get consistent results. It all comes down to three things, what I call the 3L Process: Listen, Learn, and Leverage.
Listen to what’s happening, learn from it, and then leverage that insight with your experience to make things better.
Josh Dore
[05:30]
Alongside his book, Canady runs The 80/20 Institute, which offers everything from 100-day accelerators to 12-month transformation programs, all designed to help companies engineer a turnaround.
When working with new clients, their standardized process starts with a simple but revealing question.
Bill Canady
[06:00]
The first thing we ask is, “Why are you talking to us?”
It always comes down to three reasons.
The first is “I want more.” These are founders or CEOs who’ve grown their business to a few million in revenue but feel stuck. They’ve bootstrapped their way here but now they’re unsure how to move forward.
The second is fear — “If I don’t fix this, I’m going to go out of business.” That’s often driven by declining revenues or cash flow. You can lose money and survive for a while, but if you run out of cash, you’re done.
And the third is exit — they want to sell or step back eventually.
Once we understand which of those applies, we ask two simple follow-up questions:
- What’s your goal? (Usually to grow, save, or prepare the company for transition.)
- What number do you need to reach to make that goal work?
Then we look at the gap — say they’re at £1 million and want to reach £2 million. How much of that growth can they achieve organically versus through acquisition?
We usually focus on organic growth. We ask them to segment their products and customers, and this is where the magic happens.
We identify where they’re making money and tell them: do more of that.
And where they’re losing money or not seeing results: do less of that.
It sounds simple, but it’s incredibly powerful. In almost every case, 20% of what they’re doing is driving 80% of their success, and the rest is distraction.
Once they see that clearly, we help them shift resources — time, capital, people — from the unprofitable areas into the profitable ones. That’s how real, sustainable turnarounds happen.
Josh Dore
[10:15]
Canady says you can have the best plan and process in the world, but none of it works without the right people. Leaders need specific types of people in defined roles to make a turnaround stick.
Bill Canady
[10:45]
This is key. Every company needs three types of individuals to succeed.
First is the Visionary — usually the founder or CEO. Their job is to decide where the company is going and what the goal is.
Second is the Operator — the people who run the day-to-day: presidents, VPs, directors. Their role is to take the Visionary’s goal and create the strategy to achieve it.
Finally, you need the Prophet — our play on words because they “see the future” and they help the company profit. This is the person who has the playbook, the expert in the process, often an internal leader or external consultant who ensures the process is embedded in the company.
If you only have the Visionary, change can take 7 to 10 years.
If you have Visionaries and Operators, it can take 3 to 5 years.
But if you have all three — Visionary, Operator, and Prophet — you can usually turn a company around in 18 months or less.
Josh Dore
[13:40]
That 100-day marker is something you emphasize in your work, and it has a fascinating history.
Bill Canady
[14:00]
Yes, the concept goes back to Franklin D. Roosevelt. When he became U.S. President during the Great Depression, he called Congress back and said, “We’re going to pass laws in 100 days.” They passed 44.
It became a benchmark: what can you accomplish in your first 100 days?
In business, that first 100 days sets the tone. You don’t fix everything in 100 days, but you lay the foundation.
We focus on three levers: profitability, productivity, and growth.
Profitability comes first, usually through pricing. You can pull that lever instantly.
Productivity, getting costs out, follows, typically within six months to a year.
Growth comes later, often tied to the product cycle, around year two or three.
On average, we see 20 to 50 percent profit growth in the first year, mostly from pricing and procurement improvements, and steady gains afterward.
Josh Dore
[18:00]
Let’s talk about culture. Even with the best plans, if you don’t bring your people with you, change fails. How do you make sure people buy into the mission?
Bill Canady
[18:30]
You’ll fail without it.
We have a saying that guides us:
- Be on pace. Don’t move too fast or too slow; set the right tempo for your team.
- Be data-driven. If you have less than 20 percent of the info, you’re guessing. More than 80 percent, and you’re too late.
- No surprises. Bad news stinks after three days; deal with it early and honestly.
- Results matter. We’re not a “best effort” company. We have to deliver results for our people and customers.
If you create a culture that’s transparent, accountable, and safe to make mistakes, people thrive. It’s about progress, not perfection.
Josh Dore
[21:10]
Turnarounds often mean reshaping teams, sometimes making tough decisions. What’s the CEO’s role in that?
Bill Canady
[21:30]
That’s the CEO’s job; it has to be a condition of employment.
You set the goal, the team builds the strategy, and then you organize around it. That means sometimes changing people or roles. You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.
As a CEO, you must make those tough calls. You don’t need potential; you need people who can execute now. If you’re not willing to replace yourself or others when necessary, the turnaround won’t happen.
Josh Dore
[24:30]
How often do you see leaders who need to “fire themselves,” realizing they might be holding their company back?
Bill Canady
[24:50]
All the time. I’ve been that person myself. Most founders aren’t serial entrepreneurs; they learn by doing.
The biggest gift you can give yourself is knowing what you’re good at and what you’re not. And then, let go.
Some people can’t, and they’ll drive the business into the ground. When I work with leaders, I try to be candid but kind — help them see it without breaking their confidence.
If your team doesn’t know your true goal, that’s not their fault; it’s yours as the CEO. How can they help you achieve what they can’t even define?
Bill Canady
[27:20]
Needing a turnaround isn’t failure; it’s just an inflection point.
You’ve built something successful enough to need a turnaround. Be proud of that. Recognize that you’ve reached the next level of growth.
And like with your health, if something’s wrong, you don’t self-diagnose and operate on yourself. You go see a doctor. In business, find your “prophet.” Seek help, get perspective, and lead your team to the next stage.
Josh Dore
[29:45]
You’ve got so many examples in your book. Is there one turnaround story that really stands out to you?
Bill Canady
[30:00]
Yes, one of my own actually.
During the pandemic, I took over a company that had completely lost control. Everyone was remote, no one in the office, and one day while visiting a location, the power literally got shut off mid-meeting because no one had paid the bill. Not because we couldn’t afford it, but because no one was managing it.
We were 90 days from running out of cash. But we got the team together, got honest, and made a plan.
Eighteen months later, that company had grown 48 percent.
Not because of magic, just clarity, accountability, and teamwork. One of the hardest times became one of the proudest achievements of my life.
Josh Dore
[33:15]
Final question. If a leader could do only one thing differently tomorrow to start turning their organization around, what should it be?
Bill Canady
[33:30]
Pick one thing, your most important thing, and make it happen.
Write down your top 10 priorities, strike off the bottom nine, and rally everyone around that one goal.
Small wins create momentum. People start believing again. They feel part of something bigger.
You can either be the company that had its power shut off, or the one that turned the power back on. Go be the latter.
Josh Dore
[35:10]
You’ve been listening to The Business Leader Podcast with me, Josh Dore.
Bill Canady’s book From Panic to Profit: Uncover Value, Boost Revenue, and Grow Your Business with the 80/20 Principle is available now.
For more business masterclasses and case studies, visit businessleader.co.uk.
