The number one business takeaway from 2020 has to be the importance of being resilient. While the Philippines acted quickly and effectively in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the impact on businesses was recognizable.
Research by ADB found that quarantine restrictions significantly impacted business activity for Philippines based organizations. It was found that two-thirds of businesses closed temporarily. Of those remaining open, almost 80% operated at half capacity or less. These unexpected closures will have had a significant negative impact on business cash flow, highlighting the requirement for organizations to be resilient.
Having a resilient business model will benefit your company in many ways. Being resilient will increase your business capacity to absorb stress, recover and rewire crucial business functions, and thrive in unprecedented circumstances.
Four solutions that can make your business more resilient in 2021 are:
- Move to a remote workforce
- Streamline your operations
- Strengthen your business partnerships
- Invest in high-quality hardware and software
1) Move to a remote workforce
One of the key ways to ensure that your business stands strong in times of adversity is by considering switching to a remote workforce. Following the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have announced that they will be moving to a long-term remote working model. Microsoft, for example, stated that they will allow employees to continue partially working from home without approval. Similarly, the job marketing company Indeed informed their employees that they could remain working remotely until at least July 2021 with the potential of making this arrangement permanent.
Moving your business online offers many benefits. One of the benefits of transitioning to a remote working model is reducing the need for in-person meetings which can be both time-consuming and costly, especially if they require traveling to another location. Investing in video conferencing software will enable your company to efficiently host virtual meetings.
Moving to virtual meetings can help increase the productivity of your planned meetings by ensuring you have a set agenda and a time limit for the meeting. A survey by Steljes also found that 80% of respondents would use video conferencing as a way to have face-to-face meetings without the need to travel.
Having a remote workforce can also increase your likelihood of hiring top talent for your company. The promise of remote working is also seen as a benefit by employees who value work-life balance and wellbeing. In turn, this can help increase employee satisfaction and performance.
Further to this, being location independent will have a positive impact on your company overheads by removing the need for a physical office location. Renting an office space is often one of the largest fixed operating costs a business can have. Therefore, transitioning to a predominantly remote working model and reducing your need for a physical location can save money for your organization.
2) Streamline your operations
Another way to increase the resilience of your organization is to streamline your operations and processes. In order for your business to run smoothly, you need to have processes in place. However, it is sometimes possible for a business to have too many processes in circulation which can have negative consequences for your organization.
Reviewing and streamlining your business operations can minimize the risk of error, delay, or time wastage. In turn, operational efficiency and work quality can increase. Further to this, streamlining operations could also decrease your operational cost by removing additional unnecessary processes.
You may be surprised by the cost savings and operational efficiency that can be achieved with a fully optimized and well-managed printing process. Moving your business printing operations to Managed Print Services (MPS) can reduce the likelihood of printing errors or downtime, enabling you to maintain high output levels at all times. A managed print service provider can also reduce environmental waste, increase productivity, lower printing costs, and drive innovation.
A key element of streamlining your operations is making sure that it is an ongoing business activity. Be sure to periodically review your business operations to make sure that they are running efficiently. Use this time to update, retire, or replace business processes that are underperforming.
3) Strengthen your business partnerships
The power of partnerships is not to be overlooked when it comes to improving the resilience of your organization. Strategic partnerships could be the solution that enables your business to adapt in times of uncertainty. Partnering with other businesses can broaden your audience reach, increase credibility, and bridge gaps in your existing business services.
You could use business partnerships as a way to offer new and additional services to your target market. For example, a marketing agency could partner with a web design agency to ensure they can offer a well-rounded digital solution to its customers. This partnership allows both companies to increase their workload and revenue whilst working together on a joint project that they would not have been able to successfully fulfill on their own.
As well as partnering with other businesses within your niche, you could also increase resilience by working with an ICT solutions company to develop your network infrastructure. Knowing when to outsource business operations to an expert is an important part of being a resilient organization.
By outsourcing your network infrastructure to a trusted ICT solutions company you can ensure your network operations run effectively. Your network infrastructure partner will take responsibility for the implementation, management, and repair of your IT operations to minimize disruption and downtime. Partnering with a network vendor can also help reduce business costs.
4) Invest in high-quality hardware and software
Finally, one of the best solutions to making your business more resilient is to be prepared. Investing in high-quality hardware and software from the off-set can help your business adapt and overcome challenges.
Without the correct hardware and software, your business operations may not run as planned – you may face downtime, errors, and high costs in trying to resolve issues relating to poor quality hardware or software.
In fact, investing in high-quality hardware and software for your business can provide many business benefits. The benefits of investing in the right IT solutions for your business include increased efficiency, reduced cost by automating routine tasks, improving internal and external communications, and extending your potential business offerings.
If you are unsure of what hardware or software solutions your business needs, you can engage an ICT solutions company to help you determine what tools your business needs to operate optimally. Your chosen partner should then be able to advise you on the best tools for your organization. They will also be able to help you choose hardware and software tools that are future-proof.
Integrating hardware and software strategies in your business and developing a long-term IT strategy will enable your organization to be prepared for any future changes in your market, your employees, and your products or services – no matter how unexpected those changes may be.
To find out how we can support your business in becoming more resilient for the year ahead, please contact us today.
