How Sustainable is Your Business in the Digital Economy?

We’re reading daily now about the improving state of the UK economy - although there’s a studious avoidance of the term ‘green shoots’! Improving business prospects may lessen the pain that many businesses have been enduring since the recession hit. But, the trading environment today is significantly different from that of a few years ago and disturbingly there’s no guarantee that what worked for your business in the past will work going forward.

So, the question you now need to ask yourself is how well positioned is my business to cope with the world as it is now? And, more specifically, how am I responding to the challenges and opportunities that are now out there?

Here’s one passage of play that you may have been tempted to ignore - the impact of Digital Technology. Digital, by the way is just a way of encoding and transmitting information - it’s faster, cheaper and more immediate - I describe this as playing with live ammunition!

Given the understandable focus on keeping you head above water, you may have missed some of these trends. Here are five key ways in which digital is probably already impacting your business:

1. Your customers are taking control

These days customers are more likely to have spent time searching online, comparison shopping and talking with friends before they come to you - if indeed they do! With today’s mobile devices, this can be done real time and on the move. For example, how did you go about buying your last television, washing machine, car or holiday or stay in touch with the football transfer market? In all probability the last person you spoke to was the business you actually bought the product or service from. Historically it would have been the first!

Do you really understand how your customers buy from you today?

2. Conventional businesses are failing

Just look at the way in which internet shopping is mushrooming and the impact on well-established businesses in sectors such as music, books and travel. Many businesses that relied on distributors or middlemen are now able to sell direct to customers. Have you worked out whether this is an opportunity or a threat for you?

Is this a real risk for your business?

3. Social media is here to stay

You just can’t afford to like it or hate it - it’s not a Marmite test. Business is now much more social. This involves customers as we’ve mentioned previously, but you also need to be tapping into your employees' growing comfort with social networks - there are potentially significant productivity and knowledge gains for your business here.

Do you systematically capture what your staff know about your business?

4. The marketplace is now global

Remember too, that the marketplace is now pretty much global - for many the costs of entry are much, much lower. Your competitors - the ones you can see and the ones you can’t see because they’re over the horizon - will probably already be factoring in the benefits of technology already. So, being average is not good enough to survive in this increasingly competitive environment.

How robust is your competitive advantage? Are you creating the right memorable experiences for customers? Are your staff sufficiently engaged and motivated to build your business too?

So who are your competitors and what are they doing?

5. New Game New Rules

This isn’t just about technology - it’s about moving from the old way of thinking and working which we describe as ‘closed, selective and controlling’ to developing a new mindset - the Digital Mindset which is for us ‘open, random and supportive. These are not simple extremes of course, for most businesses some areas such as data protection and risk management remain hugely important.

Have you got a Digital Mindset?

In summary, new ways of looking at your business and new ways of thinking are likely to be the recipes for success as is a well-developed understanding of how technology can help you. The good news is that it’s not too late to get on-board and embrace digital and build a business for 2020 - or whatever your time horizon is.

So, if you’re serious about unlocking the full potential of your business - and learning to play with live ammunition - then let’s have that conversation now Chris Farrance e: chrisfarrance@frontiercoaching.com t: 07770 465560 www.frontiercoaching.com