One small business tip that can’t be overlooked or forgotten is that change is essential. You may be very successful, but if your business never changes you won’t be able to hold on to that small business success.
Every business faces its own unique set of challenges that force some change, the business challenges may come from within as in a personnel issue or they may be external challenges that you have no control over, such as the economy. Tom Hanlon of Hanlon’s Men’s Store has learned from more than 30 years in business that change is vital. “We’ve had a product mix for awhile and then something happened like they opened a major mall and some of the big stores came in and you can’t compete with them so you had to kind of change your focus,” explains Hanlon. It’s this fluidity and ability to adapt, to view your company’s future and set a course to get there that makes a successful small business.
While you often cannot predict change or control the force of change, you can control your reaction to it and you can make an attempt to predict how your reactions will affect your small business in the future. For some change is difficult and you may be hesitant to implement it, but as Hanlon explains, “I have to make my mind up to change course a little bit. You just keep changing. It takes thought, but you don’t have to do it every day.” This is a very important small business tip to grasp, while change is an essential part of growth and small business success it doesn’t need to be constant. In fact, it’s often much easier to manage change and make it work in a positive way if it’s incremental and not too drastic.
If you find that you’re having difficulties implementing and following through with your small business changes, you may want to seek out some change management support. Business change takes strong leadership and a big picture outlook, it may help to have support or some training to stay on task.
