What is the greatest lesson 2020 taught you?
2021 is here. We may be excited to rid ourselves of 2020, but it is paramount that we reflect and take what lessons we can. Especially if we want to achieve business growth in 2021. 2020 was a year that brought an unprecedented amount of change in our personal and professional lives. It was a year that was brim-full of uncertainty, making it even harder to plan for the future.
How Have Businesses Coped With Uncertainty
As McKinsey reports, companies have focussed on two areas. These areas are building for organic growth, and reinvention by creating next-normal operating models. In 2020, we saw companies close physical operations and shift to digital. We saw some companies adopt a permanent work-from-home policy. We have seen companies diversify operations by introducing new products or shifting from a global market to a local one. These changes were borne from an understanding and acknowledgment of the uncertain climate, and a desire to grow despite these uncertainties.
What Trends Can Businesses Anticipate In 2021?
2021 has arrived, but the pandemic is still present. Though tangible advancements are being made in the introduction of vaccines, the business climate is still as uncertain as ever. The pandemic does not have a stop-date, after which we can expect things to return to normal. So what can we expect, given this context?
- Advanced digital transformation: the pandemic led many companies to digitize operations and processes, and we can expect even more of this.
- New business models: to cope with the changing times and shifting consumer behavior, we can expect businesses to adopt new models or tweak existing ones. An example of this is shifting to online-only operations.
- Investing in data systems and data literacy. Consumer behavior is evolving rapidly, creating a need for data systems that capture these shifts and analyze them to aid in business decision making.
- More focus on social responsibility, diversity, and inclusion.
- More developments in remote-working and video-conferencing tools and systems.
With these trends in mind, what can you do to grow your business?
Charting A Growth Strategy For Your Business In 2021
While we can’t predict everything that may happen in 2021, we can have strategies in place that help our businesses grow. These strategies include:
- Defining what growth looks like in a pandemic world. What growth looked like for your business in 2018, may be totally different from what it will look like in 2021. For example, if you have shifted operations online fully, website visits may count more now than they did previously.
- Focus. Without a clear picture of what the future might look like, it is especially important to be efficient with your time and resources. Instead of trying to do everything, focus on what you can do, and do well, and do that.
- Be prepared for anything. Can your business survive anything? Growth is great, and we all want it, but if anything were to happen that would bring your business to its knees, growth would be the last thing on your mind. Picture your worst-case scenarios and develop contingencies for them.
- Be prepared for growth too! If your business brings in new clients as you want it to, are you adequately resourced to cater to them satisfactorily? Should you decide to start online sales, have you considered how order fulfillment will work seamlessly? When you see a spike in demand, will you have enough stock to fulfill it?
- Provide value. No matter how uncertain times may be, what is always certain is that customers will always go for value. Think of ways that you can improve on the value you offer your customers.
Work With Reactionpower
A crucial part of your growth strategy should include working with partners that understand your objectives and can help you achieve them. Our team of digital marketing experts is skilled and driven by a desire to help our clients succeed. To elevate your digital marketing efforts in 2021, in a way that is aligned with your growth strategy, talk to us!
