Do you think your business will be successful forever?
I’m back from my vacation. Was down with fever and cough. =_= Anyway, I’m back to active blogging now but was told I’ll be very busy once I get back to work. Good thing.
This is a post I wrote while I was in Johor, without internet access.
I went back to my hometown Kluang the other day and I was surprised how bad the recession has hit this small town. Many shops have been closed down, some used to be very popular many years ago. Those that are left standing, have either 0 customer in a day and those who are said to be doing very well, have their sales rate reduced by more than 50%.
And guess what, even my dad’s friend who owns the TOTO (lottery) outlet, is saying that lesser people are willing to try their luck!
But that (the TOTO outlet) aside, is the recession the only reason behind the downfall of all these businesses? I doubt so. The main reason of their downfall, I believe, is their unwillingness to change or adapt to the new changes. The same business model which used to work many years ago will no longer be useful in this decade. This applies to large businesses and corporations too. For example, Toyota and Honda used to be small players in the automobile industry whereas GM is considered as their big brother. Look at what is happening now? Honda and Toyota have been rated as the first and second (respectively) most reliable car makers in the world. GM is somewhere in 4th – 7th placing. Just like those businesses in my hometown, GM is stuck in the yesteryear and unable to make the breakthrough in this harsh modern world. Just look at the number of Toyota or Honda cars used in Asia Pacific, as compared to cars produced by GM (I think they only produce those trucks), and you will understand why GM is falling so far behind. That’s why I personally feel that GM will fall (sooner or later) if they stick to their current model, even if the government is willing to spend billions to bailout the company.
Let us try to list out the reasons why you should be willing to change.
- Nothing last forever in this world. Your business might earn you thousands in a day, but it will not last if you are unwilling to adapt to the new changes. Remember that “nothing last forever” is the way how this world works.
- If you don’t change, your competitors will and they will beat you to it. For example, your business might still be stuck with the technologies of the 70s, but your competitors are using the latest technologies. Do you think you can be more efficient than them? I doubt. So if you are unwilling to change but your competitors do, you will lose out sooner or later. Just don’t be surprised if those competitors, who used to be too small to compete, are now bigger and more powerful than you are.
- You need to change based on your customer base. If you target market are working adults, you will need to change your business model or your branding in order to prepare for a newer generation of working adults. Why? Because your business will most probably outlive your current customer base (if you’re successful). McDonald has been constantly changing their business over the years as the group of customers come into the picture. The working adults of the 1950s do not have the same “taste” or “expectation” as the working adults of the 21st century. If you don’t change, fine, we’ll just go elsewhere.
There might be other reasons which are not listed here (I believe there are a lot more) but I’m sure you can get the picture I’m trying to paint here. However, irregardless of what I’ve said here, most business owners do tend to be pretty stubborn in changing because change brings uncertainty. And most of them believe sticking to their existing and mostly outdated way of doing business is the best course of action.
Wrong. Think again.
Nothing last forever – not our life, not this planet, and definitely not your non-changing business. If you want your business to last longer than yourselves, then start changing your mindset.
I still remember the joke – men don’t want their wives to change while women get stressed if their husbands don’t change. LOL.
“If something works why change it?” is a common line to hear in market strategy work where stakeholders like to equate change to high risk. (Funny how nobody ever equates staying still to high risk). Many local companies still have absolutely no clue how the internet had changed the rules of their game and I’ve seen CEOs of public listed co’s rubbish the internet as “only for kids who have nothing better to do.”
Markets are cyclical and there are market correction phases where change-resistant companies fall off stage by themselves, replaced by entities that are more in tune with market realities. Its no different than evolution. Only the fittest and most adaptable will survive.
@ Damien
If your business cannot evolve, then it’ll become extinct sooner or later. Only those businesses which are willing to change and evolve will survive.
I do believe that most people WILL change…but most of them will only do that when it is too late. For example, those who think internet is for kids….only to accept it later on will not be able to compete with those who are already there long before them.
I am actually quite happy that these old timers had written off the internet as a strategic tool. Think about it, if these co’s are so sharp that they take everything, what would we be left with.
@ Damien
True. Hahha. Maybe that’s the way it works.
Perhaps for those biz which monopolize don’t need to? It has few examples in Malaysia…
@ ChampDog
Even the monopoly might not last forever. The gov can change their mind very fast. Imagine what will happen to those companies’ stock if gov suddenly announced that the “contract” is over, they’re letting them (the international big players) to come in. I know it’s quite impossible…but well, we never know.