Longevity is one of the key goals of any successful business. Unfortunately, it also happens to be one of the most elusive to achieve. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of businesses fail within the first 2 years of operations, with 65% of enterprises not making it to the 10-year mark.
One of the ways to avoid this fate is through future-proofing your company. This involves crafting a business model that takes into account the likely hurdles over the next several years and putting measures in place that make your company more adept at avoiding and overcoming them. Yes, it’s true that you’ll never be able to predict every bump in the road, but aspects of your business can ensure you’re at least heading in the most prudent direction.
Let’s take a moment to review a few key tips for a solid future-proof business model.
Focus on Relationships
When creating or adjusting your business plan for longevity, it’s tempting just to focus on the internal technical elements. Yet, a significant part of making your company future-proof is how you interact not with processes but people. As such, you need to focus on building and strengthening relationships.
Some points of focus include:
- Consumers
It’s nice to have a decent stream of casual customers, but that doesn’t tend to equate to future-proofing. When difficult times occur, the casual consumer has very little incentive to stick with you. Your business model needs to be aimed at attracting loyal consumers and developing meaningful relationships with them.
You also need to emphasize you and your staff demonstrating care for customers’ current needs and developing challenges. Aim to be a positive part of their community and connect to issues they value. This tends to make a difference when customers are making their purchasing choices now and in the future.
- Staff
Your relationships with your employees will be among the most important throughout the lifetime of your business. They will significantly influence your day-to-day operations and your trajectory with their innovations. The more positive bonds you forge with your staff, the more likely you are to attract great talent and retain them in the long term. This makes your business better able to thrive in the long term. Your business model should create an employment environment that supports workers accordingly.
Provide more than the minimal benefits and keep your salaries competitive. But also show that you are invested in them personally. Ensure that you demonstrate genuine care during their challenges and celebrate their achievements. A talent development program that helps them progress not just through your business but in their career goals, is an effective way to do this.
Stay on Top of Tech
It can’t have escaped your notice that technology has become a staple aspect of the business landscape. Whether it’s tools in the Internet of Things (IoT) to help make you more efficient or an online ecommerce platform that forms the bedrock of your company, digital elements are going to be a feature of your company. However, simply adopting the occasional tool isn’t going to be effective in ensuring longevity. Technology changes, and it can have unexpected impacts. As such, a future-proof business model will tend to have an active, agile attitude toward technology.
This involves making certain that you are putting time and energy into regularly assessing what technology is not just right for your businesses now, but also what the trajectory of development is. You should be abreast of the digital tools that have been having an impact over the last decade and how they could continue to be a positive, disruptive influence on your industry in the near future. Remote collaboration tools, for instance, have been steadily developing, but recent shifts in workplace needs have resulted in them becoming essential parts of operations.
Artificial intelligence (AI) had previously been a minor feature in automation but has recently become a driving force in business analytics that allows leaders in multiple industries to make smarter, more informed decisions with machine learning software. Your business plan needs to be aimed at embracing technology with a curious, cautious, and forward-thinking approach. This doesn’t mean blindly engaging, but being part of the conversation, keeping educated, and adopting tech that can keep you ahead of the competition.
Maintain Values
Keeping your business interests at the core of your operations might see you surviving for a period. However, to achieve longevity, your model needs to have a more substantial mission. One of the key elements that can keep your enterprise growing is a clear and visible commitment to strong ethical and social values. Consumers are increasingly prioritizing ethical businesses in their purchase decision-making, and the digital age provides them with the tools they need to see how companies behave behind the scenes.
One of the most important values to maintain is a commitment to sustainability. Industries are prime contributors to environmental damage, and consumers want to see that businesses are making distinct efforts to achieve carbon neutrality. Utilizing digital sustainability tools is a practical and effective way to incorporate this into your business model. This approach uses digital tools to forecast where in your model sustainable adjustments need to be made, alongside incorporating technology that boosts energy efficiency, minimizes wasteful errors, and optimizes the supply chain. Making these types of genuine efforts shows that you are taking responsibility for your environmental impact.
It is also vital that your values include strict accountability. Your company will make ethical mistakes occasionally, and your response should not be one of covering up. Rather, you’ll find that your company will be considered more authentic if you keep your consumers a part of your ethical growth. Be open when there are issues and invite them to engage with you to make improvements.
Conclusion
The challenges of the future can be difficult to predict. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t adapt your business model to be robust and agile. By maintaining relationships with your stakeholders and keeping on top of tech trends you can actively contribute to your chance of longevity. Don’t neglect your ethical standards, either, as these can bolster your reputation and make sure your company is a positive presence in the community for a long time to come.
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