Making changes is part of growing a company. You can make significant changes, like signing several multimillion-dollar deals in a year or franchising, or smaller changes, like filling in your CSuite or updating your processes. Each change can have a positive or negative effect, which means that change, in general, can cause anxiety.
In a recent interview, Adi Klevit spoke with Dave Valentine, CEO of Avadel, about the many positive changes he made to his business. Many years ago, Dave was told his stress levels were affecting his health, and he found it necessary to transform his business in order to keep healthy and happy. These positive changes helped him reduce his stress and anxiety and led to business growth.
In this article, we will share how Dave and many other entrepreneurs have made positive changes that resulted in scaling while also supporting a healthy lifestyle.
How to Make Positive Changes to Your Company
Positive changes can include just about anything. You may be launching a new product, opening a new building, or expanding your business from 100 employees to 10,000. Growth and change can be exciting, but it can also be daunting. Here are steps you can take to support your company’s evolution.
1. Examine what you are doing right now.
In the interview, Dave shared that he was networking his way up to larger clients, and this time-consuming process was using up much of his energy. So, he took a step back and examined what he was doing to determine the necessary changes.
When you step back and examine what you are doing, be sure to look at the whole picture. Examine metrics, SOPs, your sales funnel, and anything else that has to do with the smooth operation of your business.
2. Observe what could be changed.
In the networking example, Dave found ways to change what he was doing by contacting executives where they “lived” online. He contacted them on LinkedIn and Twitter/X. He cold-called them, sent them personalized gifts, and found ways to get in touch. This meant he could still connect with other executives and business owners without as much in-person networking.
What do you need to change in the way your company operates? It could be that you are on the wrong platform for your demographic or ignoring technology that will make your life much easier. Take some time to observe what could be changed and think about the changes you could make.
3. Define your goal.
Why do you want to make a change? Are you hoping to create work/life balance? Do you want to scale your company? Set your goals so that you can make focused, purposeful changes.
4. Determine the changes you could make.
There are likely a million and one changes that you could make. Write them all down.
4. Run a feasibility survey.
You can easily remove a number of your options by looking at what is feasible and what is not. For example, if you want to increase your number of high-value clients, one option may be making a list of the top five hundred potential clients and sending them all gifts. If you don’t have the budget for this option, cross it off the list and move on.
Once you have your most obviously unfeasible ideas off the table, run the rest by your team. They will help you reduce the list of changes to just a few.
5. Determine which metrics these changes will affect.
The goal is implementing a change that will positively impact your company and the appropriate metrics. Determine which metrics should be monitored as you evolve your business.
6. Map out the implementation process.
Now that you know which changes you want to implement, map out how you will do it. Ensure those involved know they will be involved and work with them to make it happen.
7. Work with your team to implement the change.
It’s time to implement the change! Ensure everyone knows their role and understands how to provide feedback as they do it.
8. Monitor metrics.
Track the metrics that will show whether or not the change is positive. Keep an eye on these metrics as the change is implemented and your business evolves.
9. Update SOPs with any positive changes you have made.
Now that you know whether the change(s) you have made are positive or negative be sure to update your SOPs with the new processes.
10. Roll back any negative changes you have made.
If any of your changes had a negative effect, roll them back and re-implement the older SOPs, or try something else. Just make sure you’ve documented any additional updates along the way.
If you are hoping to make a positive change, the very first step is getting your documentation in order so that you can:
a) Ensure the change is, in fact, positive.
B) Build on existing working processes to create even better ones.
c) Roll back any negative changes quickly and easily.
Are you ready to take the first step and document your business processes and procedures? Get in touch with Business Success Consulting Group today!
