Your business is not progressing like you hoped. The marketplace is changing and you need a new identity. It’s time to regroup and relaunch your business. Relaunching can be scary and complex. There are many decisions to be made and an endless number of paths to take. You can ease your anxiety by following these simple tips for re-launch:
- Carefully consider if you’re ready and able to relaunch.
“Change is never easy. So when you decide to take a company through a major relaunch, you can't do it halfway.” Scott Cook Cofounder, Intuit Inc.
Relaunching is risky, but it must be a calculated risk. Before you move forward make sure you know what you stand to lose if your relaunch isn’t successful. Also, take care that you have the time and resources to see the process through from beginning to end.
Seek advice from other leaders in your business. They’ll help you tailor your plan to your industry.
- Don’t start from scratch.
You can’t avoid the past and you may not need to. You don’t want to run from your mistakes like Blackwater did in 2007. And you don’t want to throw away your history like Tropicana did in 2009.Take stock of your business and only fix what’s broken.
Maybe you only want to change a specific aspect of your business. Could relocating to a business center or choosing a virtual office lower your overhead? Do you need a new website or marketing approach? Would telecommuting make your company more productive? These are the sort of small changes you should consider.
- Rebrand for relaunch.
Don’t just put up a new website or change your address. Relaunching is about changing the way customers and clients see you and value your products or services. The most successful rebranding campaigns incorporate improving products or services and reaching or meeting customer demands in a new way. Target and Apple’s rebranding efforts a decade ago are great examples of this, as they transformed themselves from also-rans to leaders within their industries. Take note of these and other major successful reorganizations, but remember that you don’t have to be a big company to think big and achieve success through relaunching.
