When the Cage Door Appears Open
“Nothing will change until the unspoken is said”
That quote rings true in so many ways in regards to unlocking new growth strategies in a business. Especially businesses that have been in a niche market for a very long time and carry a history of success. It is when these companies’ business models are no longer viable that things get stagnant and can fall apart quickly. Developing new business strategies for growth is the only way to survive.
Recently we spent 2 1/2 days with an organization that we thought everyone could learn from. This is an organization that has been around for a very long time. However, over the last 100 years, their business model has changed and is really no longer viable. What happened? Well, in short, Google.
We began to unpack what it would look like to change. Because even within an organization that’s been around for over 100 years you can still have Caged Vision.
Having a successful business that has been around for decades or longer can create an environment and thought process where things just stay the same…I mean they have worked for this long. But this can be a dangerous trap to get into as a business owner. Creating new revenue channels and having new growth strategies for your business is critical to continued success.
Changing the vision and business potential of an organization that has been around for over a century can be extremely challenging. We utilize strategic road map sessions to get on paper what is already in employees’ heads. This includes new ways to market current products or service offerings, as well as extracting the ideas that have been piling up about new revenue models, product offerings and growth strategies.
Shout out to Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the authors of “Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard”. This is a great book that dives into the issues of why it is so hard to get people to change.
There are three questions that must be answered before we even start performing our strategic road map session and identifying the true business potential:
- What is the problem we are solving?
- Who are we solving the problem for?
- Is the problem we’re solving big enough?
Until these questions are answered, it is difficult to see where you can and need to focus, in order to grow.
Creating change in well established, long-standing, successful businesses that have a business model that is no longer viable can be difficult. Unlocking new growth strategies and growth potential requires a process that forces people to think differently and takes them out of their comfort zone. But it can be done, it’s just a matter of unlocking the cage door.
Subscribe to the Caged Vision Podcast where we will be discussing When the Cage Door Appears to be Open.
