Economic crisis prevention; how digital can keep your business afloat.
With everything going on in the world right now, it’s quite easy to keep a tunnel vision in mind — where focus is kept purely on the negative impact the situation may leave us in. We, on the other hand, don’t want to play into this whole “doom and gloom” band wagon, we do however, want to ensure our business and anyone who we’ve worked with in the past or may want to work with in the future, is prepared for whatever may come from the current events happening globally.
The fact of the matter is, with enforced closures, decreased consumer purchasing (except for toilet paper apparently) and a halt on travel and tourism, a lot of economies will feel the effects of this. With talk of another recession, now could be the time to think long term about your business goals, and make actionable plans for the future while you can.
One common trend that saw companies through the last downturn, was keeping up with technology, and ensuring longevity with digital foresight and planning. What does this mean exactly?
Well it’s safe to say that technology is going to continue to be a part of everyone’s lives, and the progression is at the stage where it won’t slow. Big tech companies will survive, and those who are already tech enabled will too. On the flip side, businesses who wait too long to update, transform and adapt to the new technological climate, are less likely to withstand fluctuating markets and economic upheaval.
Digitisation across all applicable industries makes businesses more efficient within their processes, increases flexibility and allows you to become more agile to changing markets, keeping your ability to generate revenue growth.
A first and crucial step for your business is to get reflective. Start by identifying less lucrative or inefficient areas of your practices, and see if you can use technology to optimise them. Or if needed, replace them with completely new and improved ways of working or ideas. This will make it clear as to what advantages will be on the horizon for your business, both in the medium and long term, and where smart investments to your business can be made now.
Throughout this time of reflection and planning, it’s important to keep in mind what it is you do, and what your customer pain points are as well. If used correctly, digitisation becomes not simply an opportunity for adapting inefficiencies, but also becomes a way to grow your business in the long term, with the targeted investments made today.
The companies that are well-prepared and understand how to use the transformation for themselves will be able to achieve a long-term increase in value, ensuring the future of their businesses. Recessions act as a test, separating the strong, agile companies from those that didn’t adapt when they needed to, and the businesses that are able to make it out the other side face less competition. So essentially, those who are able to adapt win — and can emerge as a winner at the end.
