Changing your ways can be profitable

In business, sometimes you need to take a step back to take a step forward.

For many companies this means re-evaluating their entire operations and looking at their company through the eyes of an outsider, experts say.

Often, entrepreneurs get too caught up in the daily minutiae to see the bigger picture. But it's never too late to find new growth opportunities, provided you're willing to get outside your comfort zone.

"We all fear change, and it's easier just not to change," says Jerry Siegel, president of JASB Management, a business management training and development firm in Syosset.

But business as usual doesn't cut it in this slow economy. You need to continually look for new ways to improve your people, operations and overall attitude.

With that said, there are positive steps you can take now to kick-start your growth:

1Get back to basics:When companies stagnate, they tend to focus on a mere 20 percent of what they initially planned to do when going into business, says Ainslie Waldron of AccelerateYourCompany .com, a business development and growth strategies firm in Vancouver, Wash. and Brisbane, Australia. Get back to the 100 percent, she says. Revisit your business plan and see whether you're reaching all intended goals.

2Enlist a cheering squad:Surround yourself with positive people who can encourage you and foster new ideas, says Waldron, author of "The Ultimate Secret for Business" (Sutton Hart Press, $14.95). This can be via an advisory board or mentor. "If you're used to being around negative people, it's going to rub off on you," she says.

3Invest in people: Considering the average person only uses between 15 percent and 20 percent of his or her potential, there's lots of room for improvement, Siegel says. "Help employees see what they need to change in order to do more, be more and have more."

4Partner up:Find synergies with other complementary businesses (i.e., strategic alliances, cross promotions) to help expand your reach or customer base, Siegel says.

5Trim the fat:Look for ways to cut unnecessary costs, says Al Angrisani of Angrisani Turnarounds Llc in Manhattan, who was assistant secretary of labor under President Ronald Reagan. "Look at your business model today and try to take 20 percent of the costs out of it," Angrisani says.

6Think promotions: Instead of just making across-the-board price cuts during these recessionary times, try doing select promotions of non-moving inventory, he notes. "If product is sitting on your shelf, you need to get rid of it even it means deep discounting," Angrisani says. Across-the-board price cuts are a last resort only if cost-cutting and select promotions haven't improved the health of your business, he says.

7Promote your personal brand:Your personal brand is just as important as your corporate brand, says Rob Basso, president of Advantage Payroll Services in Freeport. When Basso was looking to boost his visibility and position himself as a "problem solver," he decided to create a monthly webcast called Basso on Business (bassoonbusiness.com), in which he goes into regional businesses to uncover challenges and offer solutions. "You need to differentiate or [you'll] die," Basso says.

8Expand offerings: Are there more services you can offer existing clients, Basso asks. For instance, Advantage Payroll is planning to launch a website in partnership with a compensation specialist to help human resources and payroll clients figure out compensation for any given job based on national comparisons. "The more lines of service you carry with an individual, the less likely they are to leave," he says.

What ails you?

Looking to kick-start your business? According to a March small-business survey by Angrisani Turnarounds, stagnation was a top concern of more than one-third of small businesses, along with survival of their business (51.5 percent) and managing growth (13.5 percent).