Being successful in any industry always required great awareness of the contemporary business landscape and the strategies that can be used to leverage its everyday realities. But, what to do when this landscape is changing with the speed of shifting dunes? Working out the current necessities already leaves us at a great disadvantage. By the time we manage to implement functional solutions, these measures may already become obsolete.
The only solution is to stay ahead of the curve. Let us take a look at the clues that are around us and try to devise viable business strategies for 2020 and beyond.
Use the power of financial platforms
Starting or expanding businesses usually requires an external source of financing. Up until recently, banks served as the most reliable institutions we use for these types of services. But the traditional channels for applying for loans have become painfully slow. A welcome alternative can be found in web-based financial platforms that have removed a lot of bureaucratic obstacles associated with traditional banking systems. By using such services, small businesses are able to respond to forthcoming opportunities much faster.
Put the focus on ROI
Running a successful business is virtually impossible without using different metrics to determine the viability of different strategies. Taking into consideration how rapidly the business climate tends to change in this day and age, the strongest focus should be put on the metrics that appear the most age-agnostic. And there is no performance measure that fits this description better than ROI – the indicator that describes the ratio between net profit and cost of investment in a manner that is easy to understand and even easier to act upon.
Think globally
The rise of communication technologies effectively erased the borders between different countries. Failing to leverage this opportunity means cutting off your business from a lucrative source of revenue you didn’t know even exists. So, try to put your online efforts into global terms, even when it comes to things like content and blog posting. Fortunately, professional transcreation services can help you localize your posts to prospective markets without losing any of the writer’s intention or the tone of the text.
Pay closer attention to customer service
As we already pointed out, the rising technologies are making the business world a very mutable environment where strong footholds are few and far between. That makes holding up to the ones we have all the more important. Well, according to recent research, 70% of customers still base their purchase decisions on how well they are treated by the service provider. So, do your best to keep your existing customers happy and engaged by any means necessary.
Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know
Many entrepreneurs have a bad habit of relying on solutions that are working well enough. When the time for course-correction finally comes, implementing innovations is often slow, expensive, and requires painful structural changes. That puts early adopters of innovative technologies and business models in a position from which they can dictate the tempo of the entire markets. The lesson we can learn from this is not to put too much trust into things we consider familiar while overlooking promising prospects.
Use the ever-expanding reach of social media
Social media is slowly pushing traditional outlets away from relevance, at least in terms of marketing. The proof of this claim can be found in recent research that says that 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business on this platform. The reasons for this interest are obvious. Social platforms present a versatile environment where businesses and users can interact in far more creative ways than through traditional advertising. These benefits need to be utilized even better in the years to follow.
Big data doesn’t necessarily make a big difference
Over the last couple of years, there has been much talk about the importance of big data. Don’t get us wrong, quality information is necessary for informed decisions. But, just how big you need to go? Apparently, not that much. What you should do instead is to focus your efforts on gathering relevant, up-to-date and, what’s most important, actionable data. If these requirements are met, the scale becomes irrelevant. As a matter of fact, smaller structures may prove to be far easier to analyze than endless data streams.
We hope these few considerations will help you to devise business strategies that will prove to be relevant in 2020 and the years to follow. The world around us is changing too rapidly for us to lower our guards. The only way we can stay competitive in this game is by staying ahead of the curve and always looking ahead.
