Over the past couple of years we have seen a rapidly changing business environment in many ways. Successful businesses flow, grow, and reinvent. Dying businesses fall behind.
Terms of Change
Here are a few terms related to change that occurs in business:
Shifting- A slight change of trajectory in the direction of a business in any area(s).
Pivoting- A large and significant change in the direction a business takes in one or more areas.
Reinvention- Rethinking the business model you are working with now as well as your business goals.
Why Do Businesses Struggle with and/or Resist Change?
·0 People in general do not like change because change takes work, involves degrees of risk, and is many times unfamiliar territory. These personal objections can be overcome by simply acknowledging the reality of change around us and discovering how we can grow and move forward in our lives and business.
·1 Business owners and managers sometimes do not understand the difference between an investment and and expense. Sometimes in order to grow our business we need to invest first. Investments are meant to increase financial profits as time goes on. Expenses are simply part of business overhead.
·2 Sometimes change and investments may not have been considered or factored into the original business plan and budget. In this case, there is no time like the present to take an honest look at your business forecast and/or budget.
·3 Sometimes businesses get so caught up in the present business environment that they do not evaluate and access the future business forecast. Remembering to look at your business from two perspectives, the present and the future, will pay off in the long run.
·4 The business culture may promote the mentality of, "We have always done it this way!" In this case, the culture needs to move toward openness to growth or the competition may move ahead to serve the customer better. Creating a business culture of openness to change starts with business owners and managers modeling a positive outlook on growth-related change.
·5 A large organization with layers of management may not have "their ears to the ground." A great example of this is a complicated corporate structure where those on the top simply call the shots and are far removed from the customers they are serving through layers of management structure. A restructuring possibly, better communication, and a change in the overall business culture may be needed to gain traction and move ahead to serve the customer more effectively.
Summing It All Up
Businesses struggle with and resist change because people in general do not like change, owners and managers do not understand the difference between an investment and an expense, change and investment expenses may not have been considered in the original business plan, businesses can get so caught up in the present business environment that they forget the future, the business culture does not embrace growth-related change, and larger businesses may not "have their ear to the ground."
Taking It From Here...
So how do you personally handle change? Does your business and/or culture embrace growthrelated change? Is change, investment, and growth factored in your business plan? What are your goals for growth-related change in the future?