How to Strengthen Your Business In Evolving Market Conditions
During turbulent economic times, organizations can face unprecedented impacts to their business. Recently, we provided a Risk Assessment Framework to assist companies in evaluating risk and planning for uncertain times. However, downturns can motivate businesses to pursue permanent changes and investments that could drive greater success long-term, even as economies stabilize, and turn risk into opportunity.
We recommend that leaders assess various areas of their businesses to determine how to better serve their team members and their customers. We have provided an Opportunity Assessment Framework that allows companies to review potential opportunities internally and externally to strengthen their business model. In particular, companies should examine opportunities in relation to their staff, business operations, product and service offerings, finance and their clients.
Operations Opportunity Assessment
Due to current global events, many companies are looking into the success of their teams working remotely. During times of evolving market conditions, we recommend businesses consider a broad range of operational opportunities that can drive growth. Leaders should assess various ways to better enable its people to achieve long-term success, as well as potential investments to improve the company’s finances and resilience.
Factor
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Key Points
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Scoring Criteria
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---|---|---|
People
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What opportunities exist to strengthen and grow employees?
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1 = low opportunity 5 = high opportunity
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Operations Continuity
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What opportunities exist to strengthen business continuity?
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1 = low opportunity 5 = high opportunity
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Financial Stability
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What opportunities exist to grow financially?
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1 = low opportunity 5 = high opportunity
|
Customer and Industry Opportunity Assessment
There are many potential opportunities for businesses to consider external of their business operations. Particularly, companies can consider how to provide more value to their customers and build deeper relationships with their business partners. Examples would include bundling solutions sets or utilizing new communications strategies. Harnessing opportunities like these to drive further value from new and existing relationships will help enable long-term success.
Factor
|
Key Points
|
Scoring Criteria
|
---|---|---|
Industry
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What opportunities exist in the industry?
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1 = low opportunity 5 = high opportunity
|
Relationship
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What opportunities exist to strengthen the client relationship?
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1 = low opportunity 5 = high opportunity
|
Product and Service Offerings
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What product opportunities exist?
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1 = low opportunity 5 = high opportunity
|
Evaluating Opportunities
The above Opportunities Assessment Framework is designed to help guide companies begin identifying potential strategies and methods to improve and grow their business long-term. Upon implementation, businesses should have ongoing communications with their staff to ensure that new programs are having a positive impact, and to get any input on adjustments required to further enable their success.
Similarly, we recommend companies evaluate financial and operational results to see if investments in new infrastructure, technologies or service offerings are driving growth. We also recommend businesses have open and regular discussions with their clients and supply chain partners to determine the impact of new changes on external parties.
Conclusion
Opportunities arise when companies evaluate their performance, particularly during turbulent times, and closely examine which areas they can improve most upon. Leaders know that there are always new and ongoing risks to their business. However, with procedures in place to identify and evaluate them, successful companies can go beyond risk-mitigation and create competitive advantages that enable long-term success.