I recently went to review a Restaurant that one of my clients was planning to acquire. During the inspection, I decided to check the restroom facilities and what I saw shocked me. The faucet was broken. The toilet handle was no longer working. Several tiles were broken. The toilet door handle was missing. Instead of simply fixing the problem, they had moved a drum of water into the restroom and placed a bucket inside for people to fetch water manually. When I asked how long the toilet had been in that condition, one of the staff replied: “It has been like this since I joined the company.” Think about that.

A fault that would cost less than ₦5,000 and take less than one hour for a plumber to fix had gradually become part of their operational culture. The abnormal had become normal. It reminded me of the Biblical story of the woman who had an infirmity that bent her over for 18 years. For so long, both she and the people around her had adjusted to the condition and accepted it as normal… until Jesus showed up and revealed that what they had normalized was never supposed to be normal.

That is exactly what happens in many businesses. Over time, operational dysfunction becomes invisible to the people inside the system. Buckets under leaking sinks. Missing door handles. Tables buried under piles of unmanaged files. Warehouses filled with expired and damaged products. Sales reps who no longer follow process. Drivers who operate without accountability. Inventory variances.

The longer these faults remain unfixed, the more they silently become part of your company’s identity. Yet to a first-time customer, investor, auditor, or serious business partner, they are glaring signs of operational decay. One of the greatest things a CEO can do is intentionally look for the abnormalities that the organization has normalized. Walk through your business again with fresh eyes. See your company the way a stranger would see it. You may discover that the things draining your growth are not major disasters… …but small faults that everybody got used to.

Even if the fault has existed for years, fix it. Get one of your staff members to go around the company identifying the abnormalities that have become normalized. Then start fixing them immediately. This is what Kanselor Profit Engine helps to do for business owners It helps you to identify faults your team have normalised and immediately come up with action plan to fix them That is how operational excellence begins. Meanwhile, If you know any once-thriving business that is now struggling, gradually declining or failing, do the CEO a favour. Ask them to reach out to us.

The KANSELOR PROFIT ENGINE Framework can help restore that business back to profitability within six months.

Contact the Kanselor team on: 08023622171 I remain, EMENNE IFEANYI The Wise Kanselor