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Brick No8: What would you do if you weren't afraid?
By Matt Weston, Tuesday 14 October 2003 For your small business, always remember this formula: change equals opportunity. Because your business is small, change should always present an opportunity, not a threat. True, markets and technologies move quickly nowadays. But as a small business you have an enviable edge over the big boys - the ability to react quickly. Change is your friend, and the enemy of the established market leader. The words 'change' and 'small business' go hand in hand. Many small businesses start as a reaction to change - more and more people are starting businesses because they were made redundant. That there is no longer a 'job for life' is something that drives many of us to take life into our own hands, and start a business. Still more of us start businesses because we spot opportunities, gaps in the market or niches. We see that we can fill a specific demand for a product or service and start a business to do just that. I started out for several 'change' driven reasons - because I spotted opportunities I felt weren't tapped, because I wanted to take control of my life and on a personal level because I lost my Dad and realised that life is for living not dreaming. As the head of a small firm you are much closer to the front line than your corporate counterparts. And you can react much quicker - you don't have to go through the rigmarole of board meetings and committee red tape before communicating change to various departments and eventually the customer. What would you do if you weren't afraid? Fear is the biggest barrier to change. Those of you thinking about starting a business will be familiar with the fear you get when you're about to make the jump. At any one time over 3% of the population actively wants to start a small business, yet less than 1% of us actually start-up each year - so many people are stifled by the fear, and so many business ideas die unrealised. We small business owners are the brave, and cheesy as it sounds, I believe fortune favours the brave. Speaking of cheese - if fear is holding you back, read Dr Spencer Johnson's short book 'Who Moved My Cheese?' It weighs in at less than 100 pages, so you can read it in an evening. 'Who Moved My Cheese?' is an uplifting parable of two mice, two 'littlepeople', a maze and some cheese - the aim being to teach you about change and how to deal with it. The cheese represents your job, comfort zone, security, pay, lifestyle etc. When the cheese is moved (it runs out) the mice immediately scurry around the maze trying to find new cheese, whilst the 'littlepeople' moan, worry and procrastinate. The single most important sentence in the book is 'What would you do if you weren't afraid?' Use it as a mantra whenever fear starts clouding your decisions. Evolve or die In the cleverly titled 'Survival Is Not Enough: Shift Happens', Seth Godin likens change to the evolutionary process. If you don't evolve to fit the market environment then you will die. Don't be a dinosaur. If your business is up and running, don't get complacent. Even established industries have been turned on their head by new and unexpected market forces. There are so many examples, take Solicitors in 1988 with the new Legal Aid Act, the music industry in 1999 with Napster and MP3s, and farmers in 2001 with Foot and Mouth Disease. And if you're not prepared to take advantage of change, someone else will. Regularly analyse your industry and make a list of possible changes both unlikely and likely. What opportunities would these changes throw up? Think imaginatively. How would you react to get ahead of your competitors? Be first to react Like the mice when their cheese is moved, you need to be the first to react. You need to get off your marks quicker than Ben Johnson in the 1988 Olympic 100m final. Whilst you don't have to be the first into a market, it doubles you chances of success. In 'Positioning' Al Ries and Jack Trout give empirical evidence to prove thus: the first mover will claim, on average, twice the market share of the second. Make a list of factors that would stop you being quick to react, and work to cross them off your list. Of course, as a human being, once you've got over their fear, you can go one better than mice. Mice can only really react to change - when the cheese is 'moved' they go and find more cheese. You can anticipate change - you can see that you're likely to run out of cheese and prepare yourself in advance. You can pre-empt the change and take full advantage. The sooner you become 'Change Seeking' not 'Change Fearing' the better. Getting to the root causes of change isn't easy. But the closer you can get to your customer, the easier it becomes. Build close relationships with your customers - ask them what products they would like that you can't currently provide. Ask them how they see the market place changing. Culture of change If you have employees it's vital to instil a culture of 'change seeking' in them too. 'Change Fearers' will slow you down, and have you reacting as slowly as the big boys. Help and encourage your employees to embrace change, and to always be on the lookout for new opportunities. Why not give a copy of 'Who Moved My Cheese?' to every new employee, to get your team thinking of change as an opportunity? Remember to sign up: back to top |
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