More often than not, many good start-up ideas are brought crashing down by new trends, disruptive technologies or a plain old lack of strategic vision. Every successful entrepreneur thinks about future-proofing their businesses. By future-proofing your start-up, over the long-term, you will win new customers, attract the brightest talent and anticipate where the best opportunities lie. Here is a list of 5 strategies that will help you to future-proof your business.
Watch Out For Millennials
The millennials or Gen Z’ers are becoming predominant in the workplace. Inclined to be highly ethical, naturally innovative and fond of feedback they’re known for their strong sense of community and desire to positively influence the world through their work. Invest in frequent lateral training for millennial workers to meaningfully contribute to the success of your start-up. Develop strategies to address these groups, as employees and as consumers as well.
Green is the New Black
Consuming ethically has become more important in recent years. Customers today are doing more research and reading up on the products and services they buy. They are more interested in ethical and environmentally friendly products as it creates opportunities for consumers to protect and preserve resources within their surrounding environment.
So if you want your start-up to be commercially successful, you will have to keep up with these evolving consumer expectations. By “going green”, you will not only contribute towards a sustainable environment but it will also be beneficial to get more customers. Check your ecosystem of buyers and suppliers to make sure everyone meets their standards.
Identify and Manage Risks
One cannot predict the problems which might occur in the future, but can certainly take the necessary steps to prevent those. You need to find possible point of failures for your business. Find the risks involved and gaps involved in your business process and address them before those turn into problems. No one knows your business better than you. You are the best person to identify the risks involved and take measures to mitigate them.
Keep Up with Technology
If you are looking to future-proof your business in the digital age, technology will be a huge part of this. The internet and technology are completely changing the way customers shop. Create a digital ecosystem for your business, including a mobile-friendly website with e-commerce capability, and social media pages. Robots and Artificial Intelligence are also being increasingly used to perform a vast range of activities. In a recent research, it was predicted that AI bots will overtake 85 per cent of customer service interactions by 2020 and could increase productivity by at least 40 per cent by 2035. Make careful assessments and identify the technology solutions that will provide the most value for your start-up.
