These tips can help you not just survive, but thrive in challenging times.
Knowing your strengths and focusing on your market will help you focus on the aspects of your business you can control.
Developing resilience and strategies for managing in changing times may help your business through unexpected external and internal impacts.
Investigating and implementing strategies involving product or service innovation, diversification and differentiation may help keep your business agile and well-informed about market opportunities.
1. Focus on the strengths in your business
Strengths in your business are, as a rule, internal and include those aspects you have in your business that set you apart from your competitors. Developing strategies to maximise these and use them to your advantage to grow your business.
Strengths can include:
- Your own skills and experience
- Your networks and support
- Capital or finance to help your business grow
- Equipment
- Products/brands
- Unique benefits or features
2. Know your market
Really knowing your market can have a profoundly positive impact on your business. It will help you target your business activities, set goals with your market in mind and be aware of changes in your market and potential impacts on your business
Targeting your marketing activities will help also make buying your products or services easy for your customers. This can include improving their buying experience, matching their purchasing patterns and methods, reaching them through appropriate media channels or providing outstanding customer service!
3. Develop resilience to manage in challenging times
Running a business can be the most exciting and rewarding time of your life. However, when things don’t go to plan, taking time to refocus and assess the situation can help provide clarity and a direction for your future.
Strategies to manage may include looking after your mental and physical health and wellbeing, identifying the areas in your business causing you stress and take action to reduce this, seek support and maintain your personal and professional connections.