When is the Best Time to Make Changes?

You have managed to survive the visiting relatives, endless parties, and office “sugar buffets” without losing your temper or gaining to much weight.  Now is the time to focus

Alter your business practices strategically

on 2014 in your personal life and business. Pressure from society instructs us to set goals, create resolutions, and change behavior simply because of a change in a year digit. This philosophy is doomed to fail. Look back over the last 10 years and ask yourself how many “New Year” changes did you incorporate into your daily behavior. Not many is my guess.

Is change necessary?

Why make changes at all? This question masks the reason for any change initiative – perceived benefit. If a shift in behavior, practice, or process doesn’t result in quantifiable results, the alteration will not stick. Many small business owners attempt to reorganize their resources because of a pain response. Examples include cost cutting, hiring or firing employees, product changes, and targeting new markets. At face value, these are all solid ways of making changes to the fabric of their business. The problem is the decision-making process within the business model.

Process versus result    

Basing success on the assumption that any long-term change to the business has to demonstrate a measurable benefit helps to limit the scope of potential changes. The first step in the process is to define all potential areas of concern and outline a prioritized list of changes with respective benefit. From that list specific projects can be developed with set parameters, defined participants, and  expected outcome(s). Sounds great, doesn’t it? Unfortunately this process is as hard to implement as New Year resolutions, because benefits, typically, are not clearly communicated and results are partially measured, or not at all.

Fixing the problem

The solution lies in building a process for change that acts as a continuous framework to build on rather than attempting to make alterations to the business as a “one-off”. This method will sustain communication, lead to collaborative goals and expectations, and create the necessary value to make changes permanent. To start, the process should  be a simple template that answers the following questions:

• Why the change is necessary?
• Who is affected and who needs to participate?
• What will it cost and how will it be implemented?
• Where is the benefit and how will it be communicated?
• When can it be completed and how will success be measured?

Once completed, create one small project and see how the process works. Make necessary adjustments and roll it out.

Breaking it down for use

Okay, you agree with the idea of the process and can answer the questions if cornered; but the real question is, how do I start? Begin by stimulating value in yourself and your business. Assess your areas of weakness and decide if any possible change would help.  List them in order of priority and focus on one fundamental area.

For example, there is an issue with collecting receivables. What would the benefit(s) be of a better collection process? Decide on potential options to fix. These could include outsourcing, rolling out policies, creating new payment methods, restructuring debt, or building customized communication. Measurement of success may include change in revenue, change in customer satisfaction, increase in short-term cash, decrease in processing costs, etc. The goal is to create a problem/solution relationship that is quantified and sustainable.

If you need help or have questions regarding building templates and optimizing your business structure, contact us for an appointment.

About the Author: Kristian Hohenbrink

Kristian Hohenbrink is the president of KandH Consulting, a regional small business consultancy stimulating controlled growth and enhanced value in small businesses, start-ups and reorganizations. He has over 30 years experience in creating and managing successful businesses and is an avid writer, presenter, sales trainer, and business mentor.

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