CHANGE - USE IT OR LOSE IT
(written by Anything Creative)

As it is in life, so it is in business... you can't constantly grow by simply repeating what you have done successfully in the past. Innovative competitors and market changes, make it virtually impossible to do this in business, and especially for small businesses, who have yet to establish a solid clientele and a strong business foundation.

To help small businesses identify and predict change they must first discover how they handle change.  In other words, are they a Responder (react to events), Adapter (adapt to outside influences) or are they an Anticipator (forward thinking and analyze data to anticipate change)? 

Once they have established how they react to change, the can use the following approach to handle changes:

• Anticipate first – plan for change.  It is inevitable. Read business journals,  find out about the latest technologies available, and analyse your own company’s sales data.  These will keep you a step ahead and help you to handle changes that arise.
• Adapt – adapt as quickly as possible to the changes in your market.
• Continue to respond -  some things you will just be unable to predict.  Respond to these events as quickly as you can, with as much knowledge and sound advice you can gather.