Revamping for Longevity

Status quo is a term that should scare all of us. Not only is it a way for your company to stagnate and lose market share, but it could also be the death of it. That is not to say that you need to rip your business plan up and start from scratch. What I suggest will take some time and will take hitting the tree in the same spot repeatedly. It is all about maneuverability and being one team to set your company up for long-term success.

Distribution was flipped upside down in 2020. Companies did everything they could to stay afloat and fulfill any orders they could. Unfortunately, this also means best practices went to the wayside in some cases. Revamping and centralizing your processes is a great way to becoming more pilotable for when disruption occurs.

Centralizing does not necessarily only apply to large companies with many locations. The nitty-gritty is where you need to live for this. Doing a full review of your current processes by department is best done through process mapping, in my opinion. It will provide you a step-by-step visual into how your business is operating, and where you should make those necessary changes.

Should the buyer maintain item information in your system, or is that more of a task for category management?  These are the types of questions you will have to ask to truly create best practices in order to enhance the longevity of your business.

Determining what your business’s vision is and what your new processes are will make you realize there needs to be a baseline for your company. What I mean by this is that your business as a whole and each department needs to have cardinal rules. These are what will unify all internal stakeholders and keep you on the right track.

For example, inventory becoming overstocked if it will sit for a certain amount of time, or new demand requests being signed off on by the customer and sales rep. These types of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for your business are ways to keep your team fully engaged and on the right path.

"Revamping and centralizing your processes is a great way to becoming more pilotable for when disruption occurs.”

These two new ways of operating will only work if you accept that consistent wins are more important than the big ones. Trying to completely change overnight will bring more headaches than profits. It also has a big effect on morale. As Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer wrote in their Harvard Business Review article— The Power of Small Wins, “Steps forward occurred on 76 percent of people’s best-mood days. By contrast, setbacks occurred on only 13 percent of those days.”

This shows that we feel more fulfilled and small wins affect us more when we make some sort of progress. Even though setbacks will happen, building a business that is more resilient and adaptable will help your team combat those setbacks with smaller, persistent wins.

The time for revamping your business is up to you. However, being the laggard will only hinder your business and your team’s morale. This does not mean pouring all your resources into new processes immediately. Overhauling how you operate may be the best way to make the move from “good” to “elite”. Doing your due diligence and making progress each day will create a culture of dedication, success, and unity.