How fit is your business? By Ian Hunter and Matt Keen
When a company decides it wants to get fit, the first place to start should be reflecting back on the previous year and its strategies to ensure they are still appropriate for the environment in which it is operating. Just as a person looking to get fit needs to look at themselves with a critical eye to see their problem areas – be it their diet or not doing enough exercise – so does a company need to look to itself and its problem areas to see where they need to make the change. The key to getting fit, whether personally or as a business, is recognising that there are certain areas where you can do better.
As part of the reflection upon your company, an important aspect is to look to large trends and business innovations which are likely to be worth investing in over the coming years and companies should start putting some of the coming year’s budget aside to invest in this technology. Just
as someone quitting
smoking will try to use up to date technologies such as nicotine patches, or someone trying to lose weight will use a treadmill, it is important for companies to use the best possible facilities to drive their business fitness forwards.
By looking at trends in your business sector it becomes clear where you need to target.
For example, with
retail figures continuing to slump, smart companies (particularly B2C companies) are investigating retail trends and realising that a large volume of sales are increasingly made online. Therefore, companies need to spend time, effort and resources developing their websites in the coming year.
Considering the growing trend for online retail, it is shocking how many leading retail organisations still don’t have credible platforms for simple, easy to use online experiences. This has to be a priority for any fitness check. For a retail company to try to get your company fit without considering its website, is like trying to get fit without considering your heart. John Lewis is an example of a traditional retailer who transformed itself through its website and as a result it has reaped the benefits with a £600million sales boost over the Christmas period.
Make the change Once you have had time to reflect upon the business as it currently stands, and to understand where you are currently operating efficiently and inefficiently, you can begin to identify the areas which are most in need of
toning up, and where the excess fat can be trimmed.
Following from these reflections, it’s tempting to make a huge list of areas which need to get fit, and it is tempting to try to change too much too quickly. Over the New Year if you resolved to stop smoking, eat healthier and go to the gym every day, the chances are you didn’t really stick to any of these. With a company the situation is exactly the same. An organisation can only focus on so many changes, and doing these differently and efficiently in the coming year. For this reason, from these reflections, a company should focus upon three or four changes in a year. Any more than that and you’ll be overloading yourself and will stop focusing on the things that really matter.
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