Business Guide: How to Thrive Through Change

As a business owner, you would know what it’s like to have faced difficult challenges, overcome them and emerged only to be confronted with more. For some entrepreneurs, it may feel like you’re alone, but you’re not. This is what it means to be an entrepreneur – to spend a few years of your life the way most people won’t so that you can spend the rest of your life the way most people can’t. Challenges are part of the journey.

Here’s a look at how to tackle common problems you might face as a business owner. Maybe you’re realizing that you aren’t spending enough time with your family. Maybe you really want to grow your business and you don’t know how to. You might be hesitant about hiring independent contractors. Let’s take a look at how hiring remote talent can address challenges that every entrepreneur faces and how it improves the quality of your business.

Change is inevitable and the biggest asset to a company is the ability to adapt. The good news for CEOs and business leaders is that you don’t need to predict the nature of change. A company merely needs to adapt its ways to best complement the alternative journey.

One of the most impactful changes in living memory is the COVID-19 pandemic. You may be tired of hearing how the pandemic has affected the world and companies, but those that have not been able to adapt have fallen behind and may have had to close their doors.

However, instead of rehashing how businesses have failed, let’s look at what makes businesses thrive!

A common example is Netflix. The popular streaming platform started out as a simple DVD rental company. Is it not scary to think that soon, if not already, children will be asking what DVDs are? Around the early and mid-2000’s, physical copies moved into an outdated space. Making physical copies of media is expensive and more time-consuming. It’s not surprising then, that when given the opportunity, customers went with the cheaper option.

The founders of Netflix saw this change happening and began to adapt the business model to suit the emerging environment. This was the start of many changes that Netflix went through since opening its doors. Take a look at their journey over the years and pay attention to the number of revolutionary changes they have made, carrying them to where they are today. On this link is a scale that starts in 1997 where you can see the changes over the years. Scroll down on the page to check it out. The Story of Netflix

Had the founders of Netflix decided not to make these changes, they would have fallen behind and possibly closed like many DVD rental companies. Instead, they’ve grown to over 200 million subscribers at the end of 2021. Without those initial changes and the ones constantly being made, Netflix would not be what we know it as today.

Let us look at another example, Moriarty's Gem Art. This is a small company that was forced to literally close its doors during lockdowns in the USA. Most of the company's sales and revenue came from the customer’s ability to walk in and see the products they would purchase. This led the owners to have to make a decision and adapt. Fortunately, they were able to. The company hired live stream teams to build an online presence to drive sales further.

Their success in selling online took the owners by surprise and even when the lockdown was lifted and the store reopened, the live stream and online presence has continued to thrive, as described in this article: Small Businesses Get Creative to Survive During the Pandemic

You may be asking, what about outside of the USA? Fortunately these examples don’t stop there. Let’s look at Kopano Mofokeng, the CEO of Kasi Convenience, in South Africa. Soweto is one of the most famous townships in South Africa. Here, Kasi Convenience was founded and the business focuses on sourcing, warehousing and distributing food in the township. During the height of South Africa’s lockdown, there were two options, adapt or close.

Given the poverty of Soweto and the lack of technology in informal businesses in South Africa, one may think that adapting is impossible and give up. No, Kopano Mofokeng adapted Kasi Convenience to the obstacles and challenges. Focusing on the informal sector and using the existing structures, Kasi Convenience managed to keep business running and grow the local economy. By using the local’s available space and paying these individuals for it as opposed to renting a large space and incurring many costs, Kasi Convenience not only supports itself but everyone around them. Using WhatsApp as a base for communicating and trading between customers and clients, Kasi Convenience is able to thrive today.

There are many shifts occurring simultaneously. For example, let’s think about the finance industry. A monumental change that has occurred here is the introduction of Cryptocurrency. Many companies have taken on cryptocurrency as a form of payments or investing.

If you are in finance and know absolutely nothing about Cryptocurrencies, what will you do when your customers come to you and ask? They may start looking to others for answers. Your customers, employees and partners expect and hope that the business will stay updated and relevant.

We can never fully predict how a change can affect the world but it is important to be versatile and have the ability to adapt if needed.

The value of a work-from-home approach

We all know that every aspect of an ecosystem needs to thrive in order for there to be balance within it. Businesses are no different. Since the pandemic and lockdown, individuals have been forced to confront many frightening and enlightening details of their own wants, needs and lives. It’s not surprising that working from home has helped individuals hone in and somewhat balance their lives more so than those going into an office.

Parents and families are literally able to spend more time with each other. Expenses are cut between traveling and clothing, enabling families to spend this money on needed or wanted items, debts and expenses. It also saves time and the stress caused by commuting to work on a daily basis. These are some of the biggest reasons the work-from-home trend has increased significantly, even after lockdown has been lifted. The benefits resulting from these remote policies are affecting workers' lives to such an extent that the company is benefiting from it indirectly.

Consider how your business can benefit from instilling a work-from-home policy. Think about the office space expense that you no longer need to pay for or can save on, the larger talent pool that you’ll have access to and how this could speak on company diversity.

Work-from-home benefits don’t only apply to workers, they extend to the business and finally to you as a business owner. Providing the ability to work remotely is a model that owners can use to build a better work environment and adapt their business.

Closing Thoughts

If you find yourself and your business stuck, you’re not alone. There are many who have overcome multiple challenges and you can too! With changes happening daily and work-from-home proving to be beneficial, remind yourself to adapt and make active decisions. Find the platforms that can help make this process easier for you.

GoLance is a resource that can help business owners to scale quickly, reliably, and effectively, and with freelance talent. The platform enables you to post jobs and find independent contractors easily. You can also manage your remote talent through teams by assigning roles. This can help you delegate and direct tasks accordingly, saving time and increasing productivity.

Whether you’re looking for developers, creative designers, sales & marketing professionals, administrative support, writers, IT workers or other talent, goLance makes that possible.