Planning for change

In a time of change we need to be flexible

business planning session

Last weekend’s ABC Radio spot looked at setting up a blog. There’s a whole range of reasons why you’d one to build one; to start a business, to publicise a charity or to show off your hobby.

We were lucky to get food bloggers Thang Ngo from Noodlies and Rebecca Varidel from Inside Cuisine calling in to tell their experiences of setting up successful websites.

One common factor for both was they had started off using the free Google Blogger service and then moved up to the more robust and scalable WordPress platform as their sites took off.

Rebecca and Thang’s journeys, which is common for many businesses and entrepreneurs, illustrates how our plans have to be flexible and the tools we choose must be able to adapt to changed circumstances.

The nineteenth century German general, Helmuth von Moltke, said “no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy”. The same is true of business plans; none survive first contact with the realities of the marketplace.

As our businesses adapt to the ever changing economy and the needs of our customers, we can’t afford to get locked into static tools and responses. Our choices have to reflect that we will make mistakes, assumptions will be proved wrong or our customers, suppliers and staff will change.

Being flexible and open to new ideas is essential to survival in the 21st Century economy. The days of doing things because they have always been done this way are over.

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Author: Paul Wallbank

Paul Wallbank is a speaker and writer charting how technology is changing society and business. Paul has four regular technology advice radio programs on ABC, a weekly column on the smartcompany.com.au website and has published seven books.

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