The Quick Response Strategy, a small business power move.

I believe one of the most powerful aspects of small business is its ability to turn on a dime, make changes in an hour, a day, a week, and take advantage of changing circumstances, trends, new ideas or just in response to profitability or losses.

While it may take large corporations months or even years to evaluate a situation, create new strategies and then implement a new plan to effect a change, small business can do it overnight. That’s powerful if only they did it.

I constantly see businesses that stagnate doing the same thing every day irrespective of the results. Usually complaining that they do not have adequate cash to make changes, but this is merely an excuse.

Changes of strategy do not necessarily require huge investments of cash, just clear thinking and effective implementation.

In one of Tom Peters books called Crazy Times Call For Crazy Organization, he tells a story worth repeating here. Paul Volker, past Federal Reserve Chief, was talking with one of Japans most successful foreign exchange traders and he asked him to name some of the factors he considers when evaluating possible trades. He answered by saying “many factors, some long term, some medium term and some very short term.” Volker then asked what he meant by the long term time frame? He thought for a moment and responded…”ten minutes!” I wonder what short term was?

While it is true most of us are not in such a volatile market that requires ten minutes to be considered long term, but the point is well made. Business owners need to address their business as does the above mentioned trader, with a long term view being quite current.

If you are making money figure out why and do more of what ever is most successful. If you are losing money stop whatever you are doing and make changes immediately. Make a change today and see the results tomorrow. If its good do it again if it is not good make another change…that’s what small business can do that big business cannot do, but most small business owners keep riveted to the same actions and actually expect better results every day. It will not happen unless changes are made.

I see it all the time, small businesses doing the same thing every day, every week, every month, not daring to utilize the most effective strategy available, change. Identify new ideas, new markets, new strategies and implement them boldly and with commitment.

In some instances we are talking about internal adjustments, which is why we talk about monitoring your companies performance with a half dozen key indicators so trends can be spotted quickly and early, giving you the opportunity to make changes early in the cycle as opposed to after you have lost your way.( see my other blog entrees regarding key indicators.)

Other aspects of this quick change strategy  have more to do with larger more impactive directional changes, major marketing changes, major production changes, make or buy decisions, etc.

Both are important and both must be addressed as part of the business owners strategy. Quick changes must be part of every small business owners strategy for success.

This applies to personnel issues as well, small business owners hold onto ineffective employees way to long, failing to understand that in small business the employee base is of critical importance and a successful small business must closely monitor and adjust its employee base always looking for the best possible team.

Pricing is also a frequently stalled evaluation with small business owners failing to understand the need for profit and fearing that raising prices will result in lost sales, as opposed to understanding the value of ones products and pricing them appropriately and profitably.

Marketing strategies that don’t work yet prevail indefinitely, brokers that fail to produce yet are held on forever, sales people that are paid with a salary instead of using a reward based commission program. Changing or expanding your target market.

The opportunity for change is limitless, the only real issue is the reluctance of the small business owner to leap into uncharted waters and dare to respond quickly and effectively, making changes, all over all the time. Do it.

It is often said that people prefer the poison they know rather then the poison they do not know…How true, but its time to break this habit and embrace change as in the end the poison you do not know is far better.

Call if you need help, 413-549-2966.