The challenge of change
Michael Jackson lifts the veil

Change is a constant.

Whether you are a hermit living in an isolated cave, or a successful entrepreneur in a metropolis, change exists.

While the hermit might only be interested in the changing of the seasons, entrepreneurs need to be highly aware of the new variants that influence the markets they operate in.

Speaking at the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year ® workshop in Johannesburg recently, renowned business-to-business speaker Michael Jackson, explained why change is such a powerful force in the modern business world.

Where we were

Jackson says that the biggest factor driving change is technology. While the industrial revolution started to change the way the world works, this development was slow comparatively.

By the twentieth century however, the pace started picking up. Worldwide communication for example, took a couple of weeks during the 1950's. By the 1960's, this had decreased to a couple of days.

"By the 70's it had become minutes... and by the 80's we had already become the now generation."

He adds that the new millennium introduced the instant world.

Whereas the world would take decades to change previously, technologically driven change now means that we face a new reality every three years.

By 2013 for example, the expectation is that communication will move from being instant to being constant – people will constantly be connected via technology.

Where we are

Jackson explains that because people communicate differently, businesses need to adapt accordingly: "The customer wants what they want, when they want it, on their own terms. If you can't deliver it, someone else will."

The change in technology is echoed by a change in how consumers think and react.

Whereas companies could tell consumers what to think, feel and buy in the 1950's, people will now tell these firms what they want produced.

This in turn means that businesses that are proactive to the changes around them, are able to capitalise accordingly.

Jackson says that 300 million iPods were sold between 2004 and 2007. Similarly, there were 600 million smart phones sold worldwide in 2009.

Around the world, 500 million people use facebook as a primary means of communication and this number is expected to swell to 4 billion by 2013.

"Bill Gates recently said if your website is not being written by your customers by 2013, then don't even bother."

What it means

For Jackson, all these changes and technological developments mean one thing: businesses need to adapt to a new reality.

"The market is no more than a set of willing sellers and buyers. You set your standards by what the market wants, not by what you think it wants.

"There is a misconception about new technologies such a facebook, that it is a bunch of 16 year olds who use it.

"But, my facebook or twitter world is a collection of users that are 35 plus, who are communicating in a way they want to...

"When it comes to communicating with your market, you need to identify how this market wants to communicate and what changes they would like to see.

"Knowing what your customers want from the outset will determine your success or failure.

"The old way was to make something and to find the market for it. The new way is to find the market and then make something for it. The only way to do it is to know what the market wants. Entrepreneurs, by definition, are much closer to the market than large corporates."

Approaching change

It is often easier to talk about change than to embrace it, especially for entrepreneurs who have been around the block a couple of times.

"The older you are, the more resistant you are to change as you take your historical experience as a yard stick for performance," Jackson says.

As a result, you measure yourself in a way that is not real and has no bearing on the way the modern world operates.

"Mentally you have to let go of the past even if you were successful. This is the hardest part of change. You think that because something has worked before it will always.

"I force myself to completely scrap and redo all my business materials each year."

He adds that the changes that must take place in a business are often extremely evident to employees or people outside of the operation, especially customers. This means that engaging with others will help you to understand the areas where you need to adapt.

A business and its entrepreneur needs to adapt constantly, even if this change is motivated purely for the sake of change.

"The amount of change will depend on where your industry is and where you and your business are within it," Jackson says.

"You cannot afford to be complacent. You need to be aware of what is coming in a world that changes every three years."

Embrace change

Jackson says that the mental and physical changes that pervade the marketplace means customers want what they want, when they want it.

"I don't want my bank to love me forever – I just want my vehicle financed when I want it, which is now, and I don't want 10 million forms."

This means that entrepreneurs and their businesses need to reflect the market they operate in.

Jackson says that in the real estate market for example, the majority of agents are still the same crowd from a decade ago: "You have 26000 estate agents in South Africa of which about 4% are black.

"Most houses are bought by new black middle class but they are being serviced by people who do not understand them. The market has been very slow to respond and here, transformation is essential to growth and success.

"You have to match your horses and your courses."

When it comes to approaching and being part of change, Jackson says entrepreneurs need to ask themselves the following seven questions:

• Where am I now in the market place?
• What do I want to achieve?
• By when do I want to achieve this goal?
• From whom is this business going to come?
• What do those people really think and feel about the market in which I operate?
• What do I need them to do, think and feel in order to achieve my objectives?
• How do I bridge the gap between what people think and feel now and how they view my product or service?