A Time to Transform

At the beginning of the year, we find ourselves on the receiving end of advice on how to better run our businesses, improve our lives and achieve ultimate happiness. While it's fun to take it all in, little of this well-meaning guidance published in magazines or online, or dispensed over the radio and on TV, really sticks. We all basically know what we have to do; we either choose to do it or put it off for another year.

Well, I won't join the chorus of those dispensing advice by telling you how to get in shape or manage your money, but I will suggest that you start planning to transform your solution-provider business. And I'm not talking about tweaking; I'm talking about making a breakthrough.

This type of effort won't happen overnight; it will take months of thinking, brainstorming and planning. I've been taking an executive training course conducted by Gap International. The point of the course is to get us thinking about breakthrough business initiatives and then mapping out ways to accomplish our goals. Along the way, we learn techniques and tricks to get us thinking, acting and behaving differently than we have been, in hopes that we'll emerge as better business managers with an eye on how to transform our businesses.

As I get deeper into the coursework and discussions, I'm more convinced that every reader of this magazine and visitor to our Web site needs to start thinking seriously about business transformations and decide two things: What do you stand for as a leader? And what breakthrough do you need to accomplish this year?

It doesn't take a management-training course to see that transformation is a necessity in the high-tech channel business. If you're toiling at an IT vendor or struggling to get noticed at a midsize or large VAR, maybe starting your own business is the breakthrough you'll need. There's no one answer; you'll need to get out of your office and examine your business to see what's right for you.

A breakthrough could be getting out of the commodity hardware business to focus more on high-margin products. Or, better yet, it could be finding a way to focus on a new market segment or customer set you haven't yet addressed. Would it be a breakthrough to, say, double the business you get from the government? You bet. What about selling your business and starting over again?

No matter what breakthrough you plan on making in 2007, it's important to realize that you can't do it alone. You'll need the cooperation of your co-workers, bosses, board of directors and business partners. Trust me--your employees and peers are wondering why the company hasn't changed a particular process, or why it hasn't jumped on a new trend sooner. They just haven't told you yet.

Over the years, I've met many solution providers that got stuck in an old way of doing business. They stopped themselves from transforming because they couldn't break from the past. Their growth stalled and they became complacent. Guess what? Many of them just disappeared.

My objective in writing this--and in taking the management course I mentioned earlier--is to open your eyes to the fact that if you don't really try to transform, you're just marking time. Not all transformations will succeed, by the way. Some will fall short, but it's the effort that's truly meaningful.

Take Steve Jobs, who transformed Apple. Many attempted breakthroughs at Apple didn't pan out. (Remember the Newton?) The point is to think of ways to transform your business and then systematically go about it with the confidence you need to succeed.

I wish you the best on your transformation journey. If you care to share your breakthrough with me, I would love to hear your story and include it in a future column. One of my breakthroughs is to be a better columnist in the coming year, so stay tuned.

Robert C. DeMarzo is vice president/publisher of VARBusiness and GovernmentVAR magazines.