Yes, it's OK to change your business model

Yes, it’s OK to change your business model

Nicki Cawood looks at what factors might make you consider changing how your business runs and what the benefits could be...

By Nicki Cawood

Change is good, especially if it helps your business grow.

When we set up our businesses we have an idea of what we want it to be, how we want it to run, to look and to grow. Over time numerous factors may affect this vision. It is import to embrace change as a positive factor that will contribute to your ongoing success and help your business evolve, rather than considering your original plan a failure.

Factors that might prompt change…

There are countless reasons that your business model might change. It could be that you want to take your business in a different direction, to expand or it could be that what you are doing simply doesn’t work in your area any more, isn’t quite right for your target audience, or has been affected by the current financial climate or similar.

You aren’t reaching enough customers

Changing your business model in order to attract more customers is just good business sense. Adding additional services, changing the way you deliver services or products, to who and when can mean the difference between just breaking even and owning a thriving enterprise.

Your mission statement has changed

You started out with a local gift store but now you want to embrace eco-friendly living, ethical goods and focus more on wellbeing alongside your existing gifts and treats. Change can be great. If you’ve done your research and know that you have a captive audience for the change you are considering, go for it.

Financial reasons might prompt change

Perhaps you have realised that in order to make the business work you need to have a physical store presence instead of simply a website. Perhaps the opposite is true. You might live in a high store rent area with falling footfall, therefore need to move or focus on offering products and services online. These are just a few reasons why the books and your finances might prompt change. These changes are positive and will help you make your business the success you were hoping for.

Your personal circumstances might affect your business model

At the end of the day, as must as we love our businesses, we work to live, not the other way around. If your business model means you spend more time away from home than you are comfortable with, change it. If you are heading for burn out and don’t have enough work/life balance, change the way your business runs so that it can meet your financial and personal goals. Life changes and so it perfectly reasonable, sensible even, to alter your business and how it runs to fit in with what your life looks like now.

Consistency for customers is important

Change in business is something to be embraced. As long as you’ve done your research, you are good to go. From a customer point of view, however, you need to ensure that you don’t alienate your existing clientele whilst building up a new following. Rebrand by all means but make sure that you continue to offer a consistent service and that communicate any changes effectively.

Take your time

A business should never be something that can’t or doesn’t change over time. As the world around us changes, so does how people shop, how they choose services and how much they are willing to pay. Being mindful of what is going on outside your business will help you make necessary changes to allow your business to move in the right direction. Changing your business model, if done right, can offer huge advantages to your business. Just make sure that you do your research in advance and be willing to make tweaks and additional changes as and when needed.