Every business experiences change. In fact, change is a normal and necessary part of running a successful business.
However, we understand that change is not something everyone enjoys; we are, by nature, creatures of habit, with around 40% of our daily actions driven by regular routines.
This means change in any shape or form can, for many of us, feel overwhelming, and doubt can quickly creep in as to whether the change intended will actually make things “better.”
But change doesn’t need to feel like this, and when approached from a different perspective, we know that change is necessary to build on opportunities, improve, and build stronger, more resilient businesses.
Rather than fearing change (and avoiding it), we look at practical steps to approach change with confidence rather than fear. We look at progress over perfection, and how small, intentional changes often have the greatest long-term impact.
What is Change and Why Don’t We Like It?
Change can often feel uncomfortable. It brings with it a level of uncertainty, which, particularly when you’re running a small business, is a feeling that you don’t want to introduce to your everyday. So instead, we tend to stick with what we know, provide the services we provide and no more, and do the things we do, and do them in a particular way because that’s how things have always been done.
It’s what feels natural and buries the fear that we’re making the wrong decision.
However, not doing something that is right for the business because of fear can prevent growth. Continuing to do the same thing because that’s how it’s always been done can create inefficiencies. And not moving outside of our comfort zone to seize opportunities can impact teams and profit.
Reactive Change vs Planned Improvement
There are two main approaches to change: reactive and planned.
Reactive change is simply that: reacting to a situation in an instant. These are unplanned and ad hoc changes that are usually an emergency response to a particular situation, i.e. jumping on a new trend that the internet is going crazy for, without understanding if it meets your target audience, if you have capacity to do this, or if it even fits with your brand! This approach doesn’t provide business owners with a lot of time to think things through properly, evaluate everything, and fully understand the impact decisions can have in the long term; it is almost a knee-jerk response to a situation.
Alternatively, planned improvement is a proactive approach to change. It is deliberate decision-making that is structured, analysed, and planned out to address problems before they actually arise. Business owners, in this sense, stay in complete control and implement strategic thinking to implement change to support the business better.
Of course, when we look at the two scenarios mentioned above, planned improvement is most certainly the approach that businesses strive for (our confidence is higher when we remain in control); however, we know that the power of small business is its ability to be agile and react to change positively and quickly.
This is not to say that all small business owners should position themselves and lean into reactive change thinking, but when we build confidence and develop confident leaders, are we better placed to react more quickly? Supporting not only our own business and its growth but also our clients?
Building confidence, in this sense, is a way to build agility and resilience, especially through crisis. For example, Small Business Britain continues to highlight how small business owners have repeatedly adapted through major economic disruptions such as COVID-19, ongoing regulatory shifts, and cost-of-living pressures by staying lean and flexible.
Building confidence for small business owners therefore becomes critical to support both planned and reactive change – building agility and allowing us to meet long-term goals while also remaining confident in our decision-making when short-term changes are necessary.
Approaching change with confidence
Change is a natural part of running a business, and how we approach change will help us to avoid some of the challenges and fears we face.
Consider:
- Thoughtful, intentional change
What changes will align with your business goals, values, and, of course, capacity? Do these changes fit with your overall strategy and business objectives? If they don’t, is this change really necessary now?
Regularly reviewing your business and using your business values and long-term goals can help to guide better decision-making, providing you with confidence and making change less daunting. - Not every change needs to happen at once
There is often pressure placed on business owners that we need to make every change immediately, but the reality is that small and consistent improvements over time can have a greater impact.
Think about it from the mindset of continuous improvement, making small changes to increase quality and efficiency, all while minimising costs and also stress levels! - Break large changes into smaller manageable steps
What is the bigger picture when it comes to the proposed change? What areas of the business will it affect/support? And how can this change be broken down into smaller bite-sized pieces? Can change be implemented in stages? Across a period of time?
Think about how you can strategically plan for change (analyse shifts in the market, your customer base, etc.), helping you to remain in control without change taking over. - Celebrate progress rather than striving for perfection
Making small steps in the right direction is no small feat, and it is these incremental steps that should be celebrated, boosting motivation and building confidence.
Celebrate the small wins and the progress you have made, and make sure to communicate these with your teams. - Involve your team
By involving your team from the initial planning and discussion phases, you will find out what areas of the business are truly working well and what areas could be improved through change.
In addition, when all areas of the business are involved, motivation is higher and resistance to change is lower.
Small Changes that Make a Significant Difference
Adapting and evolving is part of building a small business, and our confidence in decision making and seizing opportunities grows by continuing to take small steps.
For example, could implementing a CRM system to hold all of your customers’ details and move away from paper-based updates save time? Money? And provide everyone in the business, from business development teams to marketing, with a clearer perspective of your customers and where they are in the sales pipeline?
What about moving to online accountancy automation for instant invoicing and statement generation?
Could you streamline workflows to increase efficiency? Is there a bottleneck in a process that you could delve into and untangle, monitoring how productivity increases as a result?
Change doesn’t have to be significant to be effective. In fact, for many businesses, change that is gradual, manageable, and addresses areas for improvement can be the most effective in creating a successful business.
Seeing Change as An Opportunity, Not a Disruption
In business, confidence grows through taking action, not waiting for certainty, and reviewing and adapting your business should be seen as a sign of strength, not failure.
Change doesn’t have to be dramatic to be effective, so our question to you is, “What change have you been putting off? What one area can you make a small but meaningful next step?”
To explore further opportunities, challenges, and future plans with a fresh perspective, book a sounding board session with our team today.
Book Here.
