Why change is essential for small business survival.

Written on February 11, 2010 by Ali Davies in Business Success Blog
3 Comments - Leave a comment!

In the previous post we talked about the challenges business owners face around effective change management. You can see that post here Creating change for Small Business Success

Why change is essential for small business survival. Change is vital for business survival

Change is essential – period! The world outside you and your business is constantly changing. Ways of doing business, competition and connecting with clients are constantly changing. The list could go on and on but the point is this – if you don’t have a change management strategy you are becoming less relevant in the marketplace. Not good!

Also, if you don’t have an effective change management strategy you aren’t moving towards your vision of Business Success and Lifestyle Freedom. Why? Because…

If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you always got – source unknown

To create something different to what you have now, you have to change.

Getting the Change Management ball rolling

There are many elements of an effective change management strategy. Here are a few points to get started:

1. Change strategy MUST be linked to your vision. Ensure the vision for your business and lifestyle is clearly defined before you go any further.

2.Make sure you have a business plan, goals and action plan. These should all be designed to achieve your vision.

3. Implement a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) strategy. Measuring your business  performance is an essential element for creating an effective change management strategy.  It will provide you with the information you need to know what needs changing.

    (Note: if KPI’s are new to you or you don’t know how to set them up, don’t worry, I will be covering this in more detail in upcoming blog posts).

    4. Measure, Review, Take Action. Keep repeating this cycle. This cycle should always include points 1 – 3 above

      Important note: your change management strategy should always be focussed on delivering  specific, tangible, measureable and consistent results.

      Have fun playing with the points above. In the next post we will investigate what stops many Small Business Owners from creating change that would deliver the success they desire.

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      • Good points here Ali, thanks. I used to do a lot of work around organisational change (now work with individuals around personal change)and it doesn't matter how big or small business is, most do not want to learn lessons before moving on to the next initiative! Especially if that change was initiated by a predecessor! Kolb's Learning Cyle- we all know the theory but it sputting it into practise that is dificult....
        I hav etaken to writing my plan on a whiteboard above my desk (I keep it simple)
        That means I can change it easily, and it's always in front of me. I found when I wrote it down and put in a drawer or file on PC it was worse than useless!
      • Hi Jane, I think you make a very important point there - keep it simple and visible! Thanks for dropping by.
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