For Allen Printing, 2008 should have been a banner year. Sales at the family-owned printing business in Nashville, Tenn., hit an all-time high, but Paul Heffington, Allen Printing’s owner and CEO, wasn’t celebrating. “Our top line was growing, but the bottom line was not moving much and we had drawn down a lot on our bank credit line,” he says. When the slowing economy caused sales to drop slightly the following year, the company started “gasping for cash,” as Heffington put it. And when Allen Printing’s bank, facing problems of its own in 2010, suddenly called in its loan, the company was so strapped for cash that it had to file for Chapter 11.
Are You Growing Too Fast?
How to tell whether your company can handle the added costs of “success.”
September 07, 2012
New!
HBR Learning
Strategy Planning and Execution Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Strategy Planning and Execution. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
How to develop a winning strategy—and put it to work.
Learn More & See All Courses
New!
HBR Learning
Strategy Planning and Execution Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Strategy Planning and Execution. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
How to develop a winning strategy—and put it to work.