Consumers and clients are fickle, the pace of life is accelerating and it’s all thanks to the internet.
It may be a bit harsh but the SME that wants to do more than just survive needs to not only ensure the quality of its products or services and of its customer service, but also to be alert to potential new innovations and changing customer habits.
Here’s an example – a cafe in London recently switched from charging customers for coffee to charging customers an hourly rate for the time they stayed there. The owner had noticed that his cafe had become popular with self employed people with laptops looking for a place to work.
The change has reportedly been popular with customers and illustrates the point that these days it pays to be flexible, responsive and therefore change the business model to meet new situations.
Here’s another example. At one time a business website would likely have been seen either on a PC or a laptop. Not any more. Now web developers have to produce something that will accommodate itself to these and to tablets and mobile phones. It’s called responsive design.
A business model does two things. It can set short, medium and long term financial and growth goals but it is also a daily and weekly satnav to be referred to often.
Increasingly, savvy businesses need to build a responsive model that can cater to changing circumstances as well as keep them on track for the longer term.