4 Ways to Radically Change Your Business

Is it time for you to make a radical change in your business? Maybe your products and services need adapting to your customers’ new needs, or you’re considering a total overhaul in how you run your business.

Either way, as circumstances and your life changes – your business likely will too. This is normal at the best of times. Given the current situation in the world, now may be an even better time for you to make a radical change in your business.

Feeling uncertain and even a bit fearful is normal – and there is a way for you to embrace radical change with success.

A note about fear and customer loyalty:

Back in December, a radical change needed to happen in my own business.

I realized that, over the last decade, I had become a business hoarder. I kept adding product and service offerings to the point of spreading myself too thin. Ever felt like that?

I had way too much stuff, too many products, too many services, not enough buyers and not enough time. I started to feel overwhelmed, stretched too far and afraid that I was going to let people down.

Deep down inside, I knew the only solution was a radical change. It was time to prune and discard all of the products and services that were no longer serving me well or bringing me joy. And, honestly, the thought of doing that and disappointing my clients was extremely uncomfortable.

I decided to make – what Charlene Li calls – a big gulp decision and make some really big changes. In spite of my apprehension, the clients who were impacted by these decisions were overwhelmingly supportive and understanding. All that fear of what they might think was 100% unfounded.

Turns out, it matters more how you do business than what exactly you’re doing. And, when you make radical changes, your customers’ loyalty and reactions will speak to your how.

Time For Your Own Radical Change? Use These 4 Strategies:

1. Set aside time for strategy and big-picture thinking.

Get out of the every-day-work and stop working in your business for a second. Your brain needs to shut off and stop looking at the never-ending to-do list.

Get out of the minutia and put time aside to work on your business instead. Give yourself space to envision where you want this business to go and how you want it to look and operate on the day-to-day.

You need to schedule dedicated thinking time in your week or you will risk burnout. Mine is on Mondays. If you’re not sure how to approach thinking time, read The Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham.

2. Be two steps ahead.

Who is your future ideal client? Who is the person you love doing business with right now, and who is the never-satisfied buyer that has to go? Get super specific and clear on this. It will make everything you do – from the services you offer to the content you create for marketing – easier.

You cannot be all things to all people.

You, the business owner, will always need to be two steps ahead when it comes to thinking about who your best future client will be. Remember: you are solving a pain point or problem that they have. This is why they are looking for you and why they will keep coming back to you.

Start thinking about what those needs are today.

3. Get really clear on who your ideal client will be in 18-24 months.

Charlene Li discusses this in detail in her book, the Disruption Mindset. It was a huge eye-opener for me personally when it came to making radical changes in my business.

The future of your business isn’t about who you serve today, it’s who you will serve in the future.

Once you are clear on who your ideal client is and what their future needs are, you can begin to think about who they will be in 18 months and what they will need from you then. This is how you align yourself with your ideal clients for the long haul.

Regardless of the industry you work in, this kind of thinking will help you develop stellar products and service offerings for the future.

In the words of Wayne Gretzky, “Skate to where the puck is going, not where the puck is now.”

4. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Communication is essential here. The whole world is currently in a shift – and you, the leader of your business, need to be communicating.

As you make changes or cancel products and services that you currently offer, people will have questions. Most people are creatures of habit and do not like change. So expect your customers to have questions. Even better, anticipate them – and answer them directly.

Do not automate this part either – be super upfront and accessible with your clients. Reach out to them personally, extend insider information and thank them for being on the journey with you.

One last thing about communication: once you’ve solidified the changes you’re going to make and you’ve communicated these changes to your clients, it’s time to do two things: 1) follow through on your change and 2) start speaking to your future ideal client about what you offer.

This means there’s more that will need updating:

• Your website copy
• Bio and About Me page
• Your online marketing
• The email copy you write
• The blogs you write

Think: anywhere that you show up and communicate with clients and potential customers – those places will need updating.

This process may take you some time to figure out, and that is okay. There is no need to perfectly execute a radical change or to do it according to a specific time frame. But, if you have some extra time on your hands, now might be a good time to start.

It’s possible to make radical changes in your business and do it well. Your willingness to communicate these changes openly and honestly to your clients will help you make these changes in the most effective way possible.

And just like a hoarder feels better once all the excess has been discarded, you too will feel better once you’ve made these changes.

What is one radical change you want to make this year?