7 Areas Your Business Needs to Change to Survive
There’s a misconception that all great businesses are born from great ideas—that one solid idea with a strict business plan which ultimately leads companies to success. In reality, this is almost never the case.
The most successful businesses aren’t the ones that happen to start out great and preserve that vision to the end; instead, most businesses start out flawed, and the successful ones are those that learn to change and adapt over time.
If you want your business to grow, flourish, and ultimately succeed, the only way to do it is to embrace change. No matter how good your business seems in certain areas, it can always be better, and striving for “better” is what’s going to set you apart.
Throughout the course of your business’s development, make it a point to make changes and improvements in these seven areas:
1. Products and services. Most businesses change their products or services only when something is wrong—perhaps a customer complains of a defect or a client ends a contract due to a grievance. The better way to approach it is to make improvements proactively; run experiments with new iterations of your classic products and services and your target demographics. If you find something that tests better, put it to good use in your normal lineup. Of course, if you feel your products and services work perfectly fine already, you can still make improvements by offering new add-ons, or new products and services created from scratch.
2. Branding. As a general rule, your brand should remain consistent for as long as possible, but that doesn’t mean you should never change it—it just means you should change it slowly, gradually, and carefully. Your ultimate goal with consistency is to ensure that your brand remains recognizable to your current audience. Slow, incremental tweaks can ensure this isn’t compromised. For example, you might change your colors to be a few shades brighter or make your voice slightly more casual over the course of a few months. Audience tastes change (especially when it comes to aesthetics), and your brand needs to evolve similarly if you’re going to keep up.
3. Marketing. Marketing is a fast-paced world; just 10 years ago, content marketing and social media marketing were practically unknown strategies. Today, they’re two of the most popular and cost-efficient marketing strategies available. Despite that, there are still a vast number of businesses that don’t even have a website—they still market themselves using paper advertisements and other traditional means. If you want to outpace the competition, you need to be up on the latest marketing trends and be confident enough to change your strategies proactively. More importantly, if something isn’t generating a meaningful return, you need to cut it out as soon as possible—or else you’ll waste tons of money in an inefficient attempt.
4. Staffing. Most small businesses start out with a dedicated core team, and gradually expand from there. Some businesses refuse to hire anyone beyond the core team, and refuse to cut anyone loose from the core team, even if they’re actively dragging the business down. This kind of loyalty is admirable, especially for family-owned businesses, but if your priorities are profitability and business survival, it’s important that you’re willing to make staffing changes. That means letting people go if they aren’t actively contributing to your business, and constantly looking out for new candidates who may help your business in new areas.
5. Operations. Even efficient on-paper operations and procedures can be inefficient in practice. Even in-practice operations and procedures can decay over time, resulting in a stray from proper execution. As a business owner, it’s your job to actively monitor and review how your operations are being executed. It may be necessary to make improvements to increase productivity, quality, and subsequently, profitability. Don’t be afraid to try new things--you may find that your craziest ideas end up being the most beneficial.
6. Technologies. Technologies evolve quickly, and sometimes it’s hard to keep up, but they should be a top consideration when it comes to changing your business. New technologies can be incorporated into your marketing strategy, your branding presentation, your customer communications, your operations, and many other areas. Neglecting to integrate these new technologies as they become available puts your business at a critical disadvantage against your competitors. Stay active in the news and your community to remain current.
7. Partnerships. Throughout the development of your business, you’ll find countless opportunities for new partnerships—both explicit and implicit. Make an effort to network with other business owners in your area, even if they don’t initially seem like they have much to offer you. You never know when a business (yours or theirs) might change and suddenly become a perfect candidate as a client, vendor, or third party affiliate. Learn to see opportunities everywhere you go, and don’t hesitate to try out a new partnership—you can always go back if it doesn’t work.
There’s an old adage that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” implying that if something is working alright, it’s best to leave it alone. This isn’t quite true in the business world. Instead, the phrase “If it’s working, see if you can make it work a little better” is more accurate. Great businesses grow through change, and the more tinkering you do, the greater chance you’ll have at finding a formula that really works.
