Adapting Your Business in Changing Times

Fall is officially here and so too is the fourth quarter of 2011! I attended a wonderful business symposium last week entitled “Business Innovation in Changing Times”. It was focused to give small and medium sized businesses access to ideas and insights to adapt their businesses to the changing marketplace.  The afternoon keynote speaker was Arlene Dickinson, CEO of Venture Communications and co-star of CBC’s Dragons Den. She shared real stories of her life journey and the lessons she learned about how to succeed in business and as an entrepreneur. They were tough, funny and very relate-able, especially for the women in the audience.  Arlene highlighted the incredible opportunity we have in Canada to live a life that we choose.  To remember what motivates us and to take opportunities when they present themselves and figure out the how tos along the way.  I look forward to reading more about her life lessons from her new book “Persuasion”.

Attendees had the opportunity to hear many experts in the field of social media, finance and systems who offered numerous take away ideas.  Now the challenge is to reflect on the ideas and see which ones have the highest return for each of our own unique business situation.

I couldn’t help but think of the famous saying “No matter how much things change, some things stay the same!”  This stood out to me with such clarity as I reflected on the day in 2 ways.

With the lightning speed of technology development over the last decade which increases the digital component of communication, the underlying message from all speakers was:

Business is about building relationships!

People do business with people they know, like and trust. We now have social media which offers the ability to reach out and share knowledge but also offers a venue to expose a businesses core values, beliefs and personality. There were concrete examples shared for the use of videos, blogs, QR codes and websites.  Did you know that 90% of online consumers say watching videos will influence their buying decision?  So the question for each business is – how are you building relationships with your current and potential clients given the addition of new technology?

The other point that does not change is the need for good basic business practices.

• Use the expertise you have developed in your core business to add any additional services.
• Create your business plan, work your plan and evaluate your plan.

This is where small and medium sized businesses can fall short.  If we take the time to work on our business instead of always working in our business we will create more favourable outcomes. So – as we move into the fourth quarter of this year; how is your business doing according to your 2011 plan?

For me – I made a plan to support my customers to have 2011 be the year to create outstanding relationships.  I have offered numerous courses throughout the year and have just added the final series to complete the year.  I invite you to review the upcoming workshops or set up a one on one session if your plan includes taking your relationships to the next level.

I’d love your feedback.  Here on this blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is a wonderful opportunity to leave a link back to your own blog when you leave a comment.

Until next time,

Karen