Why, When, and What Businesses Need to Change?

The business industry has always been constantly changing and evolving with time. And, the good businessman is the one who anticipates the change and adopts it without any hesitation.

Change isn’t an easy thing, especially for the small business organizations that already have limited resources. If you don’t understand the importance of change soon, you are preparing your business for the major set back. Today, around 7.5 million businesses are on the verge of shutting down because they haven’t made changes at the right time.

At TrackOlap, we have always advocated that you have to change with time if you want to grow. But, there are lots of questions related to business change that disturbs business owners, which we are going to discuss today.

Why Change is Good in Business?

Change in the business structure can be overwhelming and make people uncomfortable. That’s because people are habitual of doing things in a certain manner, and the slightest change in the old methods can make things difficult for them. In the workplace, owners and employees are coiled to do things in a certain manner, so making a small change can be pretty daunting for them.

But, companies that don’t change can remain behind and become stagnate. Currently, the world is constantly changing in terms of technology and innovation. Every year a new technology breakthrough can be seen in the market. Thus, if you want to face the new challenges created by new innovations, you have to learn the importance of change.

In a nutshell, ‘why change is good in business’ – for growth, innovation, and to step up with the changing work dynamics. It is clear that for long haul success, you have to change your business tactics and methods. But, this understanding leaves us with a new question – what is the right time to change?

When to Bring Change in your Workplace?

We have understood why change is good in business, but when should be change implemented? Now, you can’t wake up one day and start making changes in your workplace – it will be sheer foolishness. Change is important, but change should be made at the right time. For a businessperson, it is a challenge to find the right time to change. So, let us explain the reasons for the change in a business environment so that you can make changes at the right time.

Critical Situations –

The business industry has faced numerous critical situations – from September 11 financial crisis to the 2020 global pandemic crisis. The critical situations have caused countless companies and industries to shut down their doors.

If we talk about the current pandemic situation, the travel and airline industry has been completely sabotaged. The aviation consultant CAPA warned that "most" of the world airlines are on the verge of bankruptcy. And that is the perfect time to bring change in your business.

Technology Emergence –

The technology industry is evolving at the speed of lightning. Every other day new technology development has been noted. The need to change with the evolving technology has become prominent from the introduction of computers in mainstream business operations.

For example, nowadays, all business data is stored on computers, which is encouraging businesses to invest in cybersecurity, cloud services, etc. Thus, when technological advancements are increasing, you have to focus on the change.

Customers Preferences -

When your customers are changing, you have to change too; otherwise, your customers will go somewhere else. If you don’t change as per the changing customer preferences, it will become very hard for you to grow.

For example, due to the compilation of social distancing, customers want home delivery of essential products. By understanding this behavior change in customers' preferences, companies like Walmart are offering home delivery facilities to their customers. So, to retain your customers, you have to adopt the change.

Competitor Actions –

Competition is yet another common reason to bring change in your business. Companies sometimes prefer the status quo until leaders see competitors evolve. If your competitor is adopting the innovative methods to reach more customers, it doesn’t take much time for you to lose customers and revenue.

Blockbuster is a perfect example of a company that waited too long to change and doesn’t realize when Netflix, like companies, start to dominate the movie industry with the help of technology. Similarly, if game developers don’t move to mobile platforms, they will fall. Often, you have to change because your competitor is changing.

Extensive Growth –

Growth is one of the vital factors to adopt change. We are touching it in the last because it may require a complete company restructure. Suppose you have started as a startup organization, and you have achieved high demand and popularity with your hard work. Now, your small team and single location office might be no longer sufficient. When people from outside the town or nation want to buy your products, you have to expand your manufacturing and distribution system.

Making the decision to expand as per your demand is a very tricky process. You have to change the very basic foundation of your business to expand. For example, fitness centers and gyms have been closed for almost six months now, which has taken numerous fitness trainers jobs. But, the smart people who changed with the situation start providing online fitness services to their clients. It’s the perfect case explaining why a business should change.

What Businesses Need to Change?

There are so many reasons to change your business structure, but what exactly to change. Once you have figured out why and when businesses need to change, the next vital question is what businesses need to change. It is very important to make a change in the right direction to achieve the maximum output. Thus, one should make changes in the following sectors –

Core Business Strategies –

It is a very common myth among businesses that they often don’t need to revive their core strategies. Mostly, companies don’t change their mission statement and vision with time, and it is the biggest issue. You have to modify your business goals, strategies, and approach as per the social and financial changes.

For example, if you don’t have work from home policy in your organization, you need to change it. That’s because the present situation is demanding work from home policy, so you have to adopt it. Otherwise, your competitors will beat you.

Technical Changes –

Today, you have to constantly change your technological business aspects with the market evaluation. Organizational technological changes are vital in order to increase efficiency and reduce expenses. If we consider the present situation, brick mortar stores are closed due to lockdown in numerous areas. So, if you make a technical change and develop your website and start selling online, it will be a profitable move for you.

Human Resource Changes –

When you are taking your business online, you can’t expect your staff to automatically adjust to the new change. You have to provide proper training and knowledge to your employees. In the online work system, some of your employees might be working remotely or on the field, and it will become difficult for your managers to monitor them at the same time.

With the one operational change, you have to make a change in your Human Resource department as well. You have to install remote desktop monitoring software in your organization and provide proper training to your employees and managers to use it.

Task Management System -

Since your business structure and human resource methods are changing, the task distribution system will also change. When your employees have to work remotely, managers can’t physically assign a task to each person. Thus, the remote task allotment and monitoring software is required to run the business operations effectively. Additionally, you’ll be required a centralized task management system that can effectively align remote and in-house teams.

Organization Culture -

Business entities can make efforts to change their culture too. From the leadership style to executive level management, businesses can bring changes by revamping organizational culture. Out of all the things, changing organizational culture is one of the most difficult things. Thus, the decision to change organizational culture should be taken after considering all the factors.

Change Is The Must

The importance of change can’t be expressed in a few words. Change is the norm of nature – it doesn’t matter whether you deliberately adopt change or not. But, if you make changes on time, you don’t have to burn with the heat of change. Now, the business organizations that are already using the latest technologies and following the work from the home policy haven’t been much affected by the pandemic. Change is unavoidable, so don’t ignore it.

If you want some help to adopt upcoming business changes, you can contact the TrackOlap team anytime.