The lyrics of a song by Chris Rea go something like this:
Changing times cold hard rain/Everything's a changing/Nothing's gonna be the same
You'd better look out/'Cos you can't stop these changing times/Nothing going ever to be the same
You'd better look out/Look out for these changing times
Change is probably the scariest thing that can happen to people – and even the thought of change makes many stop, dig in their heels and state “I’ll think about that tomorrow.” We like living in our worlds – all neat and tidy, where we know what to expect and have our routines down pat. But, unfortunately, part of the world that we all live in is the inevitability of change. We can’t stop it, no matter how hard we try.
Recently, as many of you know, I moved back to small town USA after being away for many years. To me, home for the past 30 years has been Washington, DC – where everyone is bustling and the business world is ever changing. It’s hard to keep up and in order to succeed, you need to be ready for change at any given moment. It’s a rough existence at times, but people learn to adapt and to move forward – or sideways – when the need arises. But even there, we find ourselves in ruts and old routines that are hard to give up.
Risk and change are often synonymous in many people’s thoughts. “Things are going ok now. What’s going to happen if I do something different? Will I hurt my business?” They are afraid of what the future might hold if they change the least little thing – yet, without that change, business stagnates.
Perhaps your business seems to be running fine. You’re making money: you have satisfied customers, and you feel like you’re ahead of the game with your marketing. But are there things that you’d like to do that you never seem to have time for? Do you have goals but never seem to move forward with any of them? Is there a type of other business that you’d like to network with, but maybe you’re afraid that they might make it harder for you to succeed in your company? What’s stopping you from completing any of these items? Is it that you’re afraid of change? Maybe it’s time for you to say, “Oh what the heck. Let’s give it a shot. Change is happening anyway.”
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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2 comments:
I agree. Right now is the best time to change - especially for small businesses. Whether you are retailer, a consultant, or a service company, you need to continuously question whether there is a better way to do business.
A method recommended by business coaches and many business experts is to create a "sounding board" or get involved in a mastermind group
A sounding board is a group of professionals who can act as your board of trustees. You can bounce ideas off of and tell will tell you the truth.
Times they are a changin is right! Now is the time to figure out what your options are as a business owner. Decide what you are willing to live with and let go should the need arise. Determine if there is a better, more efficient, cost effective way of doing business now because once you HAVE to make the change it may be more difficult or too late.
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