Embracing Change

“You must embrace change before change erases you.” ― Rob Liano

As entrepreneurial business owners, we are often very good at embracing change and moving quickly as we respond to the ebbs and flows of our marketplace. Those changes may have been imposed upon us by external forces such as changes in customers needs, competitors, new technology, changes in Government, changes in Law, and  of course economic factors.

When managing a boutique recruitment agency in 2001, we learned the hard way, of how a terrorist act in America, could have a huge impact on our business in Australia. In the first week after 9/11 we lost 80k of revenue and immediately had to find new work to replace it or have to lay off seven of our staff. Our major clients were all American multinationals or National companies that supplied American companies. Until that point in time, it never occurred to me that a global event would hurt us here in safe Australia. It was a wake up call, and something that has ensured that when I ran my own business I was always fully prepared for any changes in our external environment, no matter how far away they were.

In the case of the after affects of 9/11, we pivoted from mostly dealing with large multinationals and started to pick up some great work from medium size Australian firms. We explained to the staff why and how we will do this and that we had to be successful at it or there would be job losses. Everyone jumped on board to help out and we quickly started to generate the same level of revenue,. Within a year, we actually started to exceed it. Our client base had changed dramatically. It was a positive outcome and it spread our risk  across many businesses rather than the few large ones that we had been servicing.

Our change management process was carefully planned and we involved everyone in the organisation. Clear communication was the key both internally and then externally as we marketed our new offerings to a very different marketplace. However, it was our mindset that was crucial to our success. After our initial shock of losing so much business, we immediately started to explore other opportunities and rather than feeling down about the situation, we embraced the changes and we were excited. Though forced upon us, these changes would not only ensure our survival in the short term, but set a foundation for sustainability in the future. 

The learnings from this change management experience has helped me get through some very tough times thrown at us from external factors including aggressive competitor attacks, the global financial crisis, floods, fires, ill health, and of course the recent pandemic that we find ourselves in.

Due to the pandemic, many local businesses have pivoted successfully, especially those who have adopted new technologies and now truly believe that staff can successfully and productively work from home. One of the worst things that could have happened to us in 100 years has forced us to be much more innovative and provided other opportunities that we may not have previously thought of.

Embrace change, as it inevitable.

Steve Semmens - The Persuader Business Coach