Several times a year, I will hear business owners quote back at me ‘if it is not broken, why fix it?’. They have a point. And yet……….

ITEM ONE: Earlier this summer, a client of mine broke off their business mentoring sessions earlier than initially planned, because life was all right. Money was coming in. Two weeks ago, they phoned me back – times had changed and they required a back up strategy. How could I help? Quelle surprise I thought to myself.

ITEM TWO: A different surprise, ex football manager supremo, Sir Alex Ferguson, is the lead story in this month’s edition of the Harvard Business Review. Ferguson is arguably the most successful manager ever in the history of this global sport, and this fascinating study analyses his achievements from 8 different perspectives. An underlying theme is that of “change” – accepting change, encouraging change, looking for new improvements…….even when you have built a winning team.

For me, that message also applies to your business model.

• As a young teenage, I remember discussing with my late father as to why he did not look at new revenue streams. One of his excuses was that his current lines were doing OK. However those good days were already at their peak.
• Consider those banks like Lehman Brothers that collapsed with the credit crisis, still less than a decade ago, because they could not recognize the dangers opening up ahead.
• Another client of mine came to me, complaining of poor sales. How could I help? I encouraged the company to undertake a simple market survey, which revealed that the core business had simply shrunk without the owners being prepared to acknowledge the fact.

Keeping things simple and not wishing to tinker with anything that works are solid, natural instincts. However, any business leader has to look beyond the present in order to understand how they will survive in the future. For those who are afraid of change, that challenge can be too much, both on an intellectual and emotional level.