Change is a major part of anyone’s story. In life, we move from one space and place to another. Whether it’s physically or mentally or spiritually, we grow and alter our perceptions as we age and encounter the world and its many available experiences. It’s ironic that the one thing about life that’s constant is the fact that it changes.
In the life cycle of a business, it’s no different. Just think about recent news of IHOP launching its IHOb campaign to focus on its burger options rather than its historical pancake offerings in order attract more customers. Or TGI Fridays using a menu and décor overhaul in an attempt to attract a consumer base that just isn’t interested in the chain-restaurant atmosphere anymore. To survive, these companies are changing their business models and even their products. Many have successfully done it in the past: Apple, Netflix, CBS and Target, to name but a few. They started with one product and/or vision and amended each as the world changed around them. Here are three signs your business needs to do the same:
You’re Losing – Profit, People, Productivity
The loss of profit, employees and/or processes that are effective and efficient is a clear indication of a problem. Each of them should serve as a major warning sign that something needs to change. Don’t keep watching your sales drop or your employees walk out the door. Quit trying to address the same issues over and over again. If growth isn’t happening, stop what you’re doing, reevaluate your objections and start down a different path.
Your Market Has Changed
Technology has dramatically changed our world just over the last ten years. Where once businesses could operate on a small scale, they are now being introduced to larger audiences with more resources and more influence. If your consumer base is dwindling or buying less or wanting more, you need to find a way to re-engage them or entice new ones altogether. Review your production costs and consider new marketing ideas, new products or new policies (or a combination of all three) to meet the market in this new age.
You Know More than You’re Using
Companies that aren’t continually innovating aren’t working. So if you possess knowledge that you aren’t using, you’re probably wasting your time. Reassess your expertise and see if you can apply them for increased efficacy, either in your profits or in your procedures. If you can’t, change direction and head where you can.
The Bottom Line
Times change and only those businesses that do, too, can survive. Who would have thought that there would ever be companies marketing a potty-training course for cats, or funeral event planning, or a Time Share Exit Plan? But they do exist because some business, somewhere, made a decision to satisfy a market in need at the right time and in the right ways.
