Is your business prepared for the next wave of disruption?
If you’re being honest with yourself, the answer is probably “no” — or, at least, not to the extent that you’d like it to be.
While preparing for every possible eventuality might be a fool’s errand, it’s certainly possible to position your business for success in a rapidly changing marketplace by taking advantage of new processes or technologies that make your employees’ lives easier and your business more efficient.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at five things your business could probably use today, even if you don’t yet realize it.
1. A New Approach to Human Resources
We have a ways to go before we’re ready to render human human resource managers redundant, but human resources automation has taken off in a big way over the past few years. If you have yet to investigate human resource process automation possibilities in your organization, you’re long past due.
2. A Car Subscription Service (That’s Classier Than Uber)
Sure, Uber and Lyft are reliable, but — well, they’re just so basic. And they get costly, fast, for organizations that need something more than the occasional ride to the airport.
D.C.-area entrepreneur Alex Perdikis has an innovative solution: a car subscription service that bundles insurance and maintenance costs. It’s perfect for organizations seeking more control over their personal transportation infrastructure without all the headaches and cost that come with in-house fleets.
3. A Logistics Partner That’s As Flexible As You Are
As your business grows, dropshipping is going to stop cutting it at some point. (Perhaps you’re already at that point.) Think seriously about finding a logistics partner capable of growing with your shipping and receiving needs — and managing complex issues like border controls and international value-added tax schemes.
4. More Flex Space (And Less Bloat Space)
Do you really need that entire office suite? As telework becomes easier than ever (and, in all likelihood, you continue to tap contract labor to lighten your staffing load), look for a scalable solution that doesn’t require an all-in, multi-year commitment. Coworking hubs and flex space providers might get you part or all of the way to the real estate solution you didn’t realize you needed.
5. Remote Meeting and Conferencing Software That Eliminates Needless Travel
If you don’t need that entire office suite, you probably don’t need to take that week-long business trip halfway around the world either. Plus, you and your team could do without jet lag.
The Next Disruptor Awaits
These days, disruption is a fact of life. If your business isn’t actively adapting to changing conditions on the ground, it’s falling behind — even if you can’t really tell that that’s the case from where you sit right now.
Whether you add all six of these things to your company’s arsenal in the near term isn’t as important as whether you’re committed to planning for a range of eventualities that could erode your competitive position and render moot whatever incremental steps you’ve taken to this point. Put another way: the sooner you realize the old rules no longer apply, the sooner you’ll be ready to do what’s necessary to stay one step ahead of the competition.
