Reinvent, Reinvest and Reengineer - Times Running Out

It’s overdue, but still not too late to reinvent your company, reinvest in it and reengineer how you do things.

There’s been a lot of talk about changes that need to be made in order for printers to succeed in these unprecedented times. We have way underestimated that need.

We don’t need slight course corrections or to “tweak” our sales strategies or even add a new product or service. We need to go to the very core of what we do and, most likely, reinvent our business model. This will take major surgery, or possibly even letting the existing patient die (hopefully slowly) while we give birth to a new business model—or at least a patient with a lot of new parts.

Is this shocking? Yes. But, if you have been following Dr. Joe Webb lately, you get a sense of not only how much has changed, but how rapidly it is changing. His tone suggests that we have this year to figure it out and make the needed changes in direction if we expect to succeed. Is it that serious? No one knows for sure, but it’s safer to error on the side that it is THAT serious.

Do I have the answer for your business? No, but I would challenge you that if you are not sure what direction you should go, it’s time you get up real close and personal with your top customers. (You know, the 20 percent that account for 80 percent of your revenue and profits.)

What do they no longer need that you are still selling? What are they buying that you are not selling? What do they need to be buying that neither one of you has your eye on yet?

It’s amazing how much time is spent in strategic planning sessions before the top management gets face-to-face with the people that have the answers—the customers. Don’t trust market research or what the pundits are saying. Even Dr. Joe would be the first to tell you that.

The answers you need may be closer than you think. But, you need to be willing to invest the time to get that first-hand knowledge from your customers.

Armed with this qualitative data, you will now be ready to reinvent, reinvest and reengineer your company. And, it will require the reinvestment of both time and treasure in your business. You will need to sacrifice short-term profitability—and even time off—to avoid the peril if you don’t make these investments.

We are doing it at Allegra Network with our franchise members and it’s not easy. We are doing it because we have about 500 franchise members and their employees who rely on us to help them navigate these waters. And we take that responsibility seriously.

Remember the new three Rs: Reinvent, Reinvest and Reengineer!