How to Futureproof Your Business

Is your competitive advantage truly sustainable? Will your current strategies keep you competitive in your industry for another 5, 10 or 20 years? Maybe some of the ideas below could help you maintain your edge.

Be vigilant on emerging technology

In the modern era of rapid development, businesses need to continuously innovate to stay competitive, and adapt. Any business that appears to be on top of its game today can be taken by surprise tomorrow by a new, disruptive technology that its team never imagined would affect their industry: keeping tabs on developing technologies is crucial.

Move out of your comfort zone

Whether an individual or organization, relentlessly seek ways to expand your capabilities and horizons. The more you do so, the more you’ll learn, grow, and extend the range of experiences, and resources you and your enterprise will have to call upon. The bigger your professional toolbox, the better, as learning to mix, match, and improvise the more flexible you’ll be.

Continually reinvent your business

Routinely appraise your products and services. Don’t strive to keep up with rivals: look for ways to pull ahead of the pack. Consider what tomorrow’s customer will want – then put the capabilities, resources, and solutions required to meet these demands in place today. The more rapidly you can adapt the quicker you will find success.

It may seem expensive to rebuild your existing software infrastructure and implement a new framework today, but if this allows you to quickly add new features and updates, the value you get over a long-term plan may far outweigh initial costs.

Don’t rely on one part of your business for continued success

Your most successful service from last year may not do as well this year. Do you have a particular service, or product, that has become very popular in the past 3-6 months? Try shifting your focus now. Depending on one part of your business to fuel others may work short term, but if that fails, everything fails.

Drop the dead donkey

If a strategy, product or service you offer, has failed by a large margin, stop! Don’t do it anymore. Do not put time and money into pushing something no one wants. . Remove any failure and replace it with momentum toward success.

Be perpetually persuasive

Consumer needs and expectations change all the time, seek to continually influence your clients and purchasers behaviour with fresh ideas delivered creatively and convincingly.
Even brands that we like to think have stayed the same forever never stop tweaking their marketing and design to make sure they are always hitting the ball over the boundary.

Think like your competitors

Many companies are slow to respond to market changes because they’re worried about alienating their current customers, so, thinking of how your rivals might challenge your brand may help you make the hard decisions necessary to grow.

Keep your eyes peeled

Inspiration and new ideas can come from anywhere, so it pays to be forever observant and search in unlikely areas. This will stop you missing out on competitive threats, market shifts and hidden opportunities.

Every few years something new appears that you may need to centre your attention on, don’t overlook this potential. Think of investing in emerging platforms such as social media and mobile advertising.

Garner trust

Faith in the business world today is at an all time low, so trust in your brand is one of the most valuable things you can own, it needs to be defended. Make it imperative that you seize the initiative to reward trust and build lasting relationships. Avoid misleading customers; you’ll almost always end up paying the price.