Nobody loves a crisis because it is negative, unstable, nerve-wracking and dangerous. Nevertheless, crises are part of every life, society and economy, as well as every enterprise. At the same time, every crisis has two sides: a problematic and a positive one. This is probably why the Chinese word for ‘crisis’ is made up of two characters, which individually mean ‘danger’ and ‘opportunity’. Ultimately, the term ‘crisis’ goes back to the ancient Greek word ‘κρίσις’ (‘intensification’). Crises are thus a kind of acid test. There are always entrepreneurs and companies in trouble – probably at least as many as those that are doing well. Yet crisis is considered a taboo. I have never come across a company that was always doing well, yet I have successfully helped many entrepreneurs and businesses make it out of crises. Most of them were previously successful but still faced problems at some point. A crisis arises mainly from some negligence. Something was overlooked or omitted, one or more weak points were ignored or not taken seriously, or put on the back burner. Then suddenly, everything that was already inconsistent underneath becomes obvious. In the crisis, every crack, every...