Embracing Change to Grow Your Business

My business is in transition. And as I contemplate this transition, I realized that this evolution is the catalyst for growth.

The evolution will involve change. In a recent post, John Jantsch identifies change as the ultimate secret to business growth. And I couldn’t agree more. He provides five ways to intentionally get change into your business which include some great ideas. But before jumping into some of his tactics, I would do a simple exercise:

What’s Your Vision?

First you need to plan where you want your business to be and what it will take to get you there. Dream a little and reach for something challenging! Write your vision for the business as you want it to be, even if just for one year. Going out 3 years is better, but even looking out one year to determine what you want your business to look like and what changes need to take place will help.

Now you need to determine what changes you need to make to get there. If you are continuing to do the same things, you won’t evolve and you won’t achieve your vision. Changes in your business can involve:

• Introducing a new service
• Launching a new venture
• Targeting a new market
• Adding more value
• Trying new ways of marketing your business

Now determine your goals that will help you realize your vision. The goals you set to achieve the vision need to force you to do things you don’t normally do, that are challenging and uncomfortable for you. Stretch yourself like never before.

Now employ the tactics or activities needed to achieve those goals. This is where John’s suggestions for change come into play.

Now get organized! Take your vision, goals and tactics and create a visual that will keep these things you need to do visible to you. This can be a chart or bulleted list or some other way that works for you.

• Vision
  • Goal #1
    • Tactics
  • Goal #2
    • Tactics

Or:

Make what you need to do visible so that you evaluate all of your activities against them. Eliminate tasks that don’t help you get there if possible, delegate those that you can’t eliminate and focus your efforts entirely on those that help you reach your dream.