Quite simply: change can be difficult. But when it comes to the best practices for your business, change can also be beneficial—and even crucial. If customer acquisition or retention is low, you need to address the matter and alter what you’re doing. If your machinery is slow, improve it. If your branding is archaic, update it. If you can’t keep up with demand, hire more people or find other suppliers. Sometimes, you might just need to outsource. You always have to “up your game” in order to do better.
Why Change is Important
Standing behind your product or service is crucial to achieving success. If you’re lacking faith or confidence in what your company offers, you’ll need to reassess a few things−namely, getting to where you believe in your product or service. Figuring out what works may take some trial and error, but one thing is for certain: growth requires change.
How to Go About Change
Every good business owner must start by recognizing when they need to make improvements. Arguably, the most successful people in the world have good ideas, but they also listen to constructive.
criticism and trust in those who can help them. Unlearning a skill that is actually hurting your business can unleash positive change and development within your organization. The first step is recognizing that you need to make adjustments, then seeking out what they should be. Is your Rolodex collecting dust? Are the hard copy notes with shorthand turning yellow? Your outdated practices may not always be so obvious, but you may have several of which you’re unaware.
Having an objective third party to address these matters can be extremely helpful. Ask a trusted, experienced employee within your company, such as a supervisor or director, or a consultant for his or her opinion and expertise. If you’re a sole practitioner and can’t afford the help, commit to independently reviewing the various factors in your business. This includes (as applicable) the administration, operations, human resources, marketing, communications, bookkeeping, production, and sales. Assess what works well within the organization and, more importantly, what doesn’t.
What Models to Change
Technology is often the best example of facing and accepting change. In the last 30 years, businesses have had to adapt. From keeping physical paper trails to electronic databases, from sending faxes to writing emails, from waiting for the dial-up connection to carrying the Internet in their pocket. Nevermore before than in the 21st century have companies had to think about their brand strategy, adapting their marketing techniques, engaging with customers through various social media, and developing advertising campaigns for different channels.
Employee management is another clear area of change and development. In addition to the back-end human resources and health and safety sides, the new generation needs to be inspired, motivated, and incentivized through different models than before. If you’re open to new ideas that may feel uncomfortable to you, you might just be able to make your employees feel relaxed and at ease. Forego a little stubbornness. For progressiveness, and you may just find the payoff to be incredibly worthwhile.
Acting on Change
Recognizing the skills that are hurting your business in the first place can be incredibly challenging. Many business owners treat their companies like their “babies” – and no one likes being told how to raise their child. But if your child was misbehaving, you would feel the need to intervene and discipline them. Similarly, if you’re in a marriage where your partner isn’t growing with you or you aren’t keeping up with them, it would put a strain on your relationship.
Being married to an old model for your business that might have worked in the past, for a certain generation, can simply be detrimental now. If you insist on sticking with the “old” while your competition is upgrading to the “new”, you will likely find them surpassing you. Rather than committing to the notion of others adapting to your models, it would bode well for your business to adapt your operations to them. Try to open up to change and, in the process, diversify your skillset. Ultimately, you will find yourself able to successfully work alongside a broader range of people from different backgrounds, cultures, and generations.
Robyn Karmazyn | Contributing Writer
