When clients shake the Magic 8 Ball sitting on Bob Dunn's desk, they see a future rigged to look eternally bright. Fortunes come up as "Yes" or "It is decidedly so" or "Most likely."

The little ball of optimism adds much-needed levity to some brutal meetings these days at the Finley Group, a Charlotte-based business consulting firm that specializes in turning around ailing companies.

As Dunn, president of the firm, told me: "It's like a big game of musical chairs right now. The music has stopped, and if you're not meaningful in the market you're not going to get a chair."

As companies from GM to Saks to Blockbuster scramble for a seat, they're also quietly taking an ax to their operations to reflect the incredibly shrinking marketplace.

These are days of reckoning for American businesses, and Dunn's insider's view doesn't exactly soothe the soul.

In fact, compared to, say, 2006, his outlook sounds positively apocalyptic: Consumers aren't buying, bankers aren't lending, and companies aren't really hiring. "This may be the new normal," he says. "And that scares the heck out of me."

The firm, proudly lean with eight consultants and a growing roster of clients, has been around for a quarter of a century, long enough to weather quite a few economic cycles and, along the way, rescue its share of sickly companies, from Jos. A Bank Clothiers to Castleberry Food Co.

Because the firm's focus has always been midsized businesses, it's a good bellwether for what is ailing the average executive suite.

Time was, the firm spent most of its time diagnosing and trying to cure lapses by senior management - bloated cost structures, ill-advised acquisitions, operational inefficiencies.

"Now, the problem isn't necessarily the managers, it's the marketplace," he says. "There are a lot of companies that aren't meaningful in the market anymore and just haven't realized it yet."

He adds: "When they realize that, it's always emotional; there's denial. It's common for executives to think that things will get better," if they only had more time and cash to execute their vision.

For example, there's the troubled furniture company that recently hired Finley to help find its way back on track. The company had spent the past 40 years as a successful maker of sofas, love seats and chairs.

"And then, over time it got into recliners, leather goods and tables," he says. "But they were not good at that other stuff, and so now we're having them go back to what made them a success. And there's pain there, in jettisoning all that."

So how, then, can a company avoid falling to a point where it needs a Finley-styled makeover? Of course, every company faces its own unique hurdles. As Dunn says: "It's a snowflake business, and not every company in trouble needs the same medicine."

Still, for starters, here's some Dunn wisdom for wayward senior managers: Start shedding those unproductive assets now; begin spreading your geographic footprint, and market risk, by exporting to fast-growing markets; and consider taking on a foreign equity partner looking for a cross-border opportunity. With some luck, you just might get from behind the 8 ball.