His Small Business Wasn’t Keeping Up With Change

As I was sitting in the waiting area for one of our new members in our program, I was impressed. The walls were covered with pictures of him winning awards. There were articles featuring him and his business. There were plaques and trophies on the table sharing many accomplishments.

I then began to look more closely at the awards, plaques and trophies. Something stood out. Something seemed odd. It was the dates on each award. They were at least 5 years old. Many much older. I made a mental note.

Soon I was meeting him in his office. The cabinet in the corner had more awards. As we began to talk what stood out was his frame of reference. He kept on talking about his previous successes. He shared how it used to be. He mentioned how difficult it was today, numerous times, in a span of 5 minutes.

I realized he hadn’t adapted to change.

His business hadn’t kept up with changes in his industry. And when we talked about marketing and business development it was apparent that his business was struggling. To survive and thrive he had to change. And quickly.

I shared that we would begin to create a one-year plan. We would focus on generating new revenue. We would work on this during our one-2-one strategy calls, as well as, during the bi-monthly workshops that he would attend as a new member.

The business plan was very detailed, but let me share a few details. We started with fundamentals. We would first of all, create a data base of all of his existing and new clients.  At the moment, he didn’t have a complete up to date list, nor did he have a data base.

Once we had the data base, we would rank the customers from the largest too smallest, based on revenue. We would then rank his best products from largest revenue to the smallest revenue. We then had discussions on the best opportunities he felt he had with each of his top clients. We also discussed opportunities with potential new clients. Finally, we put together a marketing plan to gain visibility in his market including the use of social media.

He was excited, but also a little overwhelmed.

Slowly and methodically, his business changed. He changed. He embraced change.

Today his business is dramatically different.

When you look at your business, what do you need to change to achieve greater results – the results you deserve?

About the Author:    John Marshall, founded Results Driven over 10 years ago. The Results Driven Program and its 12 Success Strategies, has been helping entrepreneurs in 30 different industries, to drive growth, profits, and achieve greater results – the results they deserve.