With the effects of recent events like COVID-19, supply chain issues, the increasing of business being done online, and inflation rates still being felt today, it can feel like your business’ productivity may be at a standstill. One of the best things a business can do to keep up with the changing economy is being able to adapt with the changes they see in both their own industry and worldwide. Curious on tangible ways to accomplish this? Here’s two ways to easily change your business into one that is ready and eager to adapt when needed.
Creating Urgency: Driving Innovation for Business Adaptation
First, creating urgency around innovation is essential to ensuring your business is able to adapt to the economy. The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern outlines the idea that although it is important to create a strong core business plan, this can make it easy to “put off” innovation. Businesses need to be committed to innovation for the “long haul”, as the economy will never stop changing; whether it be for the better or for worse. Because of this, businesses need to allocate a team, leader, or project team focused solely on innovation and preparing for the next new idea. Although it might seem silly to hire and set an entire team aside for innovation, having a tangible group of people will significantly increase the dedication to innovation. Companies need to be ready to adapt at all times, which means being ready for all types of challenges. Instead of trying to get the entire company on board with being ready to innovate, having a team with this sole purpose can get the job done effectively and will transfer to the other employees.
Learning from Competition: Embracing Best Practices and Profitability
Secondly, taking new perspectives from your industry and researching new data will also excel your business into the innovative and creative company it was meant to be. As for taking new perspectives, asking yourself questions like, “Who is profitable?”, “Who is creating new products?”, and “Who is doing well even with the challenge of (blank)?” will allow your business to take advice from others. Although it can seem taboo at times, there will always be competition to your business, and it’s not a bad thing to look at what others do and analyze ways that you can continue to be efficient and profitable even if the industry, or entire economy, isn’t doing well. Along with taking new perspectives, Harvard Business Review says, “Anomalies usually emerge from data that is both granular (revealing patterns hidden by top-line averages) and high-frequency (allowing emerging patterns to be identified rapidly)” (Harvard Business Review, 2020). The authors go on to describe how it is important to look at both superficial and underlying trends. The best way to tangibly make researching data a reality is to hire or dedicate an employee to be a data analyst for both the industry and economic trends. This will allow the company to stay up to date on trends, weaknesses, and strengths of the economy, and drive the company to continue to be profitable and efficient.
In conclusion, a changing economy isn’t something to be scared of. In fact, if your business can stay up to date on trends and watch what your competition is doing, a changing economy can allow for a plethora of opportunities for marketing, strategic product releases, and sales. Your business can and will be efficient, profitable, and successful if you keep up to date and knowledgeable, and ensure your business is ready and eager for change.
“Adapt Your Business to the New Reality.” Harvard Business Review, 18 Aug. 2020, https://hbr.org/2020/09/adapt-your-business-to-the-new-reality.
Alvaro SandroniE.D. Howard Professor of Political Economy; Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences, et al. “Take 5: How to Adapt to Changes in Your Industry.” Kellogg Insight, 10 May 2019, https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/take-5-how-to-adapt-to-changes-in-your-industry.
“Future Readiness of Smes: Mobilizing the SME Sector to Drive Widespread Sustainability and Prosperity.” World Economic Forum, https://www.weforum.org/whitepapers/future-readiness-of-smes-mobilizing-the-sme-sector-to-drive-widespread-sustainability-and-prosperity.
