There is rumored to be a method to the madness for moving and rising above the change as a business, and as a business owner of 20 plus years, I’ve yet to find the person in successful possession of that method. The truth is that the word ‘method’ tends to imply that there is a charted path, a fail-proof guide, and a successful way to move through to a solution. The landscape of business operation, in all facets, is ever-changing and does not allow for the use of a seasoned playbook but instead calls for a keen perspective, willingness to risk it all, and a whole lot of faith. If you are reading this, you are likely a business owner, manager or aspiring entrepreneur looking for insight from those who have been there and done that. It’s important to remember that ‘been there and done that’ doesn’t imply a constantly successful climb to profitable achievement, but a journey filled with pegs down the latter and lessons learned through mistakes.

It is my belief, as a business owner, that mistakes are never wished for but are often the very things that teach us the most. If you’re searching for a realistic approach to navigating the ever-changing landscape in a way that continually propels you forward, you’re in the right place.

I will start by saying that becoming a business owner was not always something I knew I wanted to do. Matter of fact, the younger me often questioned whether I had enough of what it takes to go into battle – the tough outer coat, the inner fortitude, the sharp and quick intellect, the ability to ebb and flow at the drop of dime, or a few thousand as it may be. As an older, more established business owner, I am no longer faced with these questions thanks to a few bruises and tenure with the type of experiences that alter your vantage and create a strong circle of influence. Now, I am faced with bigger, more long-term questions of how to take what I’ve built and assure that it is something that continues to be fresh and relevant for the next generations – more formally referred to as battling legacy disease. Legacy disease is most often characterized by a root in tradition that prohibits progressiveness from keeping a business relevant with the most common symptom being a belief that the methods that have always been successful will continue to be. While this is sometimes true, it is more often a roadblock that prohibits businesses from moving with the necessary change.

I get it: change is intimidating and requires a load of faith that the changes faced are viable enough to result in profitability.

Are you building a business or… building a legacy?

You’ve gone into business for yourself, and you’ve likely figured out (or at least identified) all the nuances of owning a business. You’ve established monthly revenue goals, properly managed labor costs and inventory, created alliances and resources, and a healthy profit and loss balance. Is this enough for you? Are you meeting a need and are you fulfilled in that? If so, you are building a business. If this is simply not enough for you, and you need there to be more purpose in what you’re doing and why; then you are building a legacy.

After 40 years in business, and 22 years of ownership; battling legacy disease is certainly not for the faint of heart. It requires pushing outside your comfort zone to rattle the cage a little, making changes that produce forward movement. I remember part of the negotiations to purchase my business included honoring the legacy of the previous owner. We learn from our history, and if we don’t, we are destined to repeat mistakes. The history of my business is a large part of who we are today and is at the core of the structure of the business. Equally, the biggest challenge when facing legacy disease is figuring out how to prevent your history from being that which is boxed up and carried along with you to something that acts more as a catalyst for positive change and evolution.

I don’t know if this is the answer, but it is certainly mine.

I choose to hold the history of my business as a light to the future, rather than a box full of memories.

Those very things that have made my business successful to date are at the core of what will propel it into the next generation. Whether it be in business culture, like the mascot statue whose head is rubbed before every game, or it serves as more of a roadmap for how to take what is good and make it better. Either way, change evolves from a constant which can no longer be contained in its current state.

If your choices as a business owner are derived strictly from procedural focuses and operational handicaps, your forward movement towards creating longevity is limited to what you know. Let your forward movement result from the unknown, so that your opportunities are not limited to ‘the way it is’, but rather to ‘the way it could be’.

If we have learned nothing more from the disruption of the last several years, we have certainly learned that staying relevant is all subjective to current situations and that we must be able to move…

at the drop of a dime, or a few thousand as it may be.