Change Can Be Good

“I’m not looking to make any changes.” This is a phrase our funding specialists often hear from potential clients who are skeptical about the various benefits offered by Synergy’s merchant cash advance program. We emphasize the word “skeptical” because we are well aware that, while change can be good, change can also be very scary.

Nevertheless, we often recommend that business owners utilize our merchant cash advances to make changes to their businesses. Upgrades through renovations or increased advertising are just two suggestions. It is important to stay on top of the advances in technology among other changes in business to make sure that your company isn’t left behind.

You see, most often, it is not business owners who decide when changes are made. Instead, it is the buying public that encourages enhancements in their buying experiences. Take the music business, for example. A decade ago, musicians and record companies worked diligently on releasing albums on CD and cassette.

By today’s standards, the cassette is obsolete and the CD is creeping closer to that territory. The sales of music through digital downloads has become the overwhelming favourite choice of young music buyers. Evidently, the consumption of music has changed drastically over the past ten years.

Just ask the once mighty music retailer HMV. The popular British-based company was once known as the go-to spot for all of the latest CDs. However, as The Canadian Press reported last month, the company has decided to change the face of its Canadian stores by redesigning each location and paying heavier emphasis on products other than music.

Going forward, a wider range of products including t-shirts, video games and headphones will all be available at HMV. To further showcase to the buying public that HMV is undergoing changes, the redesigned stores will feature new fixtures and colour schemes. Ask HMV Canada president Nick Williams if the company foresaw these changes ten years ago, his answer would likely have been “no”.

Present day consumers, however, have different requirements. Said Williams: “We will start to bring in more interactive guest environments and the (video) game section allows us to do that quite positively.” This is not to say that HMV will no longer sell music. Williams notes that stores will now have more listening stations that will allow customers to sample both the CDs and the headphones being used, as they will all be available for sale.

Obviously, it is always important to consider the changes that are being made in your industry. Working towards keeping up with those changes and always offering your customer base new and innovative products to meet their ever-changing needs will mean the success of your business for the long haul.