Just as in presidential politics, change is a growth strategy for small-to-medium sized businesses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) February 5, 2008 --

We have heard much in the present presidential contests about “Change”. Change seems to be the operative word that candidates in both camps are championing. Change can be either good or bad. Bad change is change that is made for change itself. Its change that really doesn’t have its direction rooted in the realities of the situation and doesn’t include thought leadership that is results or solution focused. Good change is change that is rooted in the realities of the situation. It takes the context of the situation into account and focuses on what could be versus settling for the status quo or what has always been done.

Within the business environment, change or innovation is the driver of most of the growth in revenues and profits within an organization. An example of this is Apple. You notice that Apple is no longer called Apple Computer Company. They changed their name. This name change reflects the changes that have gone on inside the company. The company has changed its focus from computers to the music industry. It is more known now for the IPOD versus an Apple computer. It is this profound change that has went on inside Apple that is now producing billions of dollars in profits versus billions of dollars in losses just a few years ago. Apple increased their profit by over 50% this past year alone. Good change is what drives growth in all businesses.

When we are looking to change, we want to frame our thinking within the context of strengths versus weaknesses or problems versus opportunities. The first thing that we want to ask ourselves is what the business weaknesses are or where are most of its current problems. A conviction to minimize these problems and to put them into proper perspective should be our initial focus. Because it is not our problems that will be the source of our greatest growth, but rather our opportunities or our points of innovation. So we must minimize our problems and take resources away from these problem areas and devote them to areas within our firm that will present the greatest opportunity for growth.

Our next area to look is for the areas within our organization or areas of focus that present the greatest opportunities for growth. Whether that area of focus is in new product development, process improvement, new market development or any number of other opportunity areas. Do we take the time to look for areas of success within our business that we can exploit to other areas or markets? Investments into our greatest areas of opportunity will provide the source for growth in revenues and profits.

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