Business Insights - Fear of Change

There are only two natural fears in life - the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. All other fears are a result of having learned to fear them either through education or by personal experience. For businesses, by far the most threatening, is the fear of change. This is because change is constant, in fact change is the only thing in life that is guaranteed.

So the question is not are things changing but rather how do we respond to change? Understanding the Serenity prayer helps. 'God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference'. The opposite of courage is fear and in the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the USA "...the only thing we have to fear is... Fear itself!"

I remember the story of a man walking past a house veranda on which sat a man and lying in front of him was a dog. It was obvious that the dog wasn’t happy as it kept whining and making unhappy noises. When asked what was wrong with the dog the man replied that the dog was laying on a nail. I said, surely that must hurt, so why doesn’t the dog move. And he replied that it wasn’t hurting bad enough YET to make him move!

Unfortunately a lot of us are like that. We know there are problems in our business or that some things could be done better but, because of the fear of change, a fear of failing, a fear of moving away from our comfort zone, we just ‘don’t get off the nail’. We think that moaning and complaining about it is actually doing something, helloooo! It is the definition of insanity to believe that you can do the same thing over again and get a different result.

However, philosophy aside, change for the sake of change can be both confusing for people and could ultimately damage your business. The motivation for change should always be in order 'to make good, better'. And the opportunities for change are abundant. All you have to know/think/believe is that making a change is going to 'make good, better'. The more detailed information you have about your business the easier it is to identify areas that need changing.

In a previous blog we discussed the necessity to periodically 're-invent' yourself, something you will not be able to if you suffer from the fear of change. As a salon software/business solutions provider we are often confronted by prospects who are frightened by change — whether it is to go from a paper system to digital, or to upgrade from their existing salon system to one that will 'make their successful business, better,' it is the fear of change that provides the greatest challenge.

At MySalon Software we understand the fear-of-change which is why we invite salons considering changing the way they run their businesses to 'try-before-you-buy'. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And fortune favours the bold!

For more information on Try-Before-You-Buy contact http://mysalonsoftware.co.za/contact-us-free-trial/

Aletta: aletta@mysalonsoftware.co.za | 064 504 6001 Terry: terry@mysalonsoftware.co.za | 083 650 0952