Staying Relevant in the Modern Age: Digitalising, Modernising, and Optimising a Business
Anyone who wants to succeed in the world of business needs to be – and have their enterprise be – constantly changing, growing and evolving. To stay relevant in an ever-changing world, we need to not just embrace change. We need to run towards it with open arms.
Businesses that can’t learn how to do that will sooner or later end up forgotten, no matter how good the business once was.
Today, we’ll discuss how you can digitalise, modernise and optimise your business so that the product or service you offer remains useful, visible and valuable to customers.
If you don’t already have an online presence, that will be the first thing to tackle. It doesn’t matter if you deliver physical products and feel you don’t need a website. These days, customers expect to be able to find you and information about you online, even if they will make a physical stop at your store or office.
It isn’t enough that the business has a website – it should also be clean, up-to-date and easy to find. Also, remember that customers will usually find you on mobile, so the website needs to be fully optimised for these smaller devices.
Additionally, you need to provide customers with an easy way of getting in touch with you in case they have any questions or requests. A contact form or email address works, but a phone number or WhatsApp is even better.
Taking digital payments is also crucial. Depending on your business, it might or might not make sense to offer online payments, but in any case, you should accept card, QR and mobile payments in person.
Consider whether some of the services you offer can be offered on a digital basis. While it might not seem obvious at first, you’ll often find that you can at least offer customers a trial without them dropping by for an in-person visit. Even just offering online bookings is likely to increase the number of customers who choose your business.
Being able to offer your services online is crucial and drastically expands your customer base from just locally to potentially customers from all over the world.
An example where this has been widely successful is in the casino industry. Initially, all casinos were physical venues, which, while it has their charm, drastically limited the number of customers a casino could get. Now consider the best online slots UK offers at online casinos. Their assortment offered is huge compared to any local casino, the minimum bets are often smaller, and the customer doesn’t have to travel anywhere to start playing.
You also need to work on revamping your brand image. Updating logos is important, but don’t be too rash – many brands have lost loyal customers by changing image too quickly and without doing enough market research. In any case, you should consider changing things regularly, including brand colours, the logo and, in some cases, even the brand name.
Enough about the customer side of it. Online bookings, payments, and more can also make your business much more efficient. Using software to track sales, stock, expenses, and other important metrics can make it easier to manage your business and act quickly if something looks askew.
Automating smaller, simpler tasks can also save you hours a week and ensure things are done with less room for human error. While automation is wonderful, some things are better done manually – especially complex tasks that call for human judgment. Start rolling out automation carefully, so that you can brake and reverse if you find something isn’t working.
While trying to figure out and execute everything all at once to modernise your business might seem like the most efficient option, it likely isn’t. It’s better to take small, reversible steps and collect feedback along the way.
Finally, don’t see it as a one-time transition. Change is constant, and a good business strategy should include testing and experimenting with new technology, trends and solutions to ensure your business is always at its best at any point in time.
