When initially starting up a small business, you will likely have all sorts of different concerns on your mind, and a wide range of ideas and plans that you are eager to execute on as quickly as possible.
While all of that is completely normal, and many ways beneficial, one issue that many small business experience as a result of being overly-hasty – and this applies both to new entrepreneurs, and even to established small business owners – is a lack of proper attention being paid to the long-term resilience of the business itself.
To a significant degree, what defines the “success potential” of a business over time is how consistent it is, and its ability to “hold on” and continue iterating and improving despite the various hurdles that appear in the way.
Here are a handful of tips for increasing the resilience of your small business.
Invest more upfront in the durability of your equipment
Regardless of the kind of company you are running, there is a very good chance that your ability to conduct your business consistently and successfully will depend, heavily, on certain specialist items of equipment that you simply can’t allow to fail unexpectedly.
For the sake of the longevity and resilience of your business overall, it’s vital to take steps upfront to invest in safeguarding the durability of your most essential equipment.
In the context of a light industrial business, for example, paying extra for protection with industrial-grade paint can save you a lot of time and trouble that might otherwise occur as a result of things like environmental wear and tear.
Develop a sophisticated web presence, and the capacity to work “off-site”
One of the hard lessons that many businesses have learned as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been the simple fact that the most robust businesses, going forward, are likely to be those with a sophisticated web presence and the ability to work “off-site.”
Today, the Internet is a very well established feature of everyday life and of business. In fact, it is such a fundamental part of contemporary global infrastructure that it would be hard to imagine a situation where it could be seriously threatened.
On the other hand, it’s clearly the case that businesses which depend entirely on a physical presence can increasingly be threatened by unexpected social developments such as a pandemic.
To the best of your ability, take steps to help your business become more “location independent.”
Work to nurture long-term professional relationships
Many businesses rely on a more or less constant stream of new customers, who can be relied on to make the occasional purchase and then move on.
In many industries, these “casual customers” will be the backbone. But they are also, inevitably, less reliable, and more fickle, as well.
One of the best things you can do to make your business more resilient, is to work to nurture long-term professional relationships, with customers who are invested in what you’re offering, and who can be reasonably expected to exercise a degree of “brand loyalty.”
Special promotions, regular email newsletters, and even developing a coherent digital “ecosystem,” if you’re an app developer for example, can all be excellent ways of working to achieve this vaunted goal.
- DISCLOSURE – This post has been written by an outside source
