Nibletz Staff
Running a business is extremely hard work. If you’re currently in charge of a business, you know exactly what we’re talking about, and you are probably nodding your head right now in agreement! There’s a lot to do in business – and certainly, you need to be a master of all trades. You’ve got to be a fantastic communicator so that you can deal with customers, clients, and your staff. You’ve also got to be able to think on your feet so you can deal with any situations that come your way – the world of business is ever changing, so this is a key skill indeed. We need to be balanced in our approach, we need to be good listeners, and we need to be fair and decisive to act on certain things and situations that arise in day to day business life. We need to be good with finances to ensure that we can balance the books and run an efficient and sustainable business that makes a profit if it’s not making ends meet.
There are far more skills needed than that in business though – far, far more and that’s why running a business is such hard work – you’ve got to be everyone to everything, almost like a chameleon. While you’ll certainly look the same, you’ll have to wear many different ‘thinking caps’ if you want to make a success of your business – or even if you want to make sure your business exists in a few years time!
While any budding business owner certainly needs to ensure that they keep up with their skillsets – you also need to keep up with the times. Today’s business? It changes from day to day – and if you’re not paying attention to developments – you’re going to be caught out. You, as a business owner – or a potential startup entrepreneur – will be caught out. Developments in the world of business mean that you need to not only adjust your skillset, but adjust how your business operates. If your business cannot keep a track of new methods, new technologies, new people, or new skills that need to be utilized – it won’t just be caught out. As time ticks on, it will be left behind, and that in itself is a pretty sad prospect. Just because you couldn’t take a leap of faith – or get to grips with something new – your business will suffer.
No business owner in their right mind wants their business to suffer, but this is a reality that faces business owners who can’t – or won’t – adapt. It’s only natural to stick to your guns, but that can sometimes make you the captain of a sinking ship. Open your business up to new developments and keep one eye on the world outside of your business to truly take advantage of what is going on in the world.
What could you take advantage of? There are plenty of things – but technology has you standing to gain the most from it. Technology has done wonderful things for business, and if you aren’t willing to grow with the changes in technology, it is yet another area where you and your business will be left behind. From the Internet of Things 2017 to phones that can handle multiple calls – the world of technology is complicated, it is ever changing, and it is varied. That’s no excuse for you to ignore it though – you’ll need to get to grips with tech if you want to succeed in business.
Simply put, you can’t stand still and rest on your laurels. You might get things up and running, but if you aren’t looking for improvements constantly, you might not get on the ground floor of revolutionary ideas. Take social media for example, if you were a business that adapted to developments like Twitter the day it emerged – you’d get noticed on it because you’d be one of few businesses using the platform. You could learn its uses and advantages quicker. Now? Twitter is huge – and it’s hard for a business to learn its uses and get noticed on the platform. Sometimes it pays to be first.
What if you’re at a Ground Zero of technology though? What if there is nothing new about your business? Well – you need to act fast. Get on board with computers, get them linked and networked so your staff can share files locally – then get yourself fixed up with cloud-based software so those files can be shared regardless of location. It’s important to ensure that business can adapt to an agile working program in the modern day so that workers can complete work regardless of their location. Computers don’t have to be big and chunky either – they can be small and portable, and you might want to swap out desktops for laptops if you’re moving to agile working, or remote working. We want our workers to be able to move – business is less rigid than ever before.
You might not even consider a computer if you’re really on the ball – you might spot that tablet PC’s and even smartphones can do the same job as a locked down desktop stuck to a table. The possibilities here are great – it means that a workforce can not only be fluid and remote – but almost global. It means a start-up has access to a workforce that spans the world. A business can operate and sell to any corner of the globe and operate a workforce from anywhere. The only thing that stops you from this is a lack of understanding – but also, a lack of imagination.
The world of business is nothing if not a world of opportunity. However, those many opportunities that come your way in business might slip through your fingers if you’re ensuring that you stay left behind. Keep your skills up to date, and your business up to date to make a real success of whatever venture you choose. The world of business is at your fingertips, but it certainly won’t be if you opt to stay completely stuck in the past.
