If you’re running a business, one of the most important things you can be is prepared. Every unforeseen event has the potential to unbalance your business and leave you floundering, but if you’re able to anticipate potential problems you can make contingency plans and improve your chances of short term survival and long term success.
Today we’re taking a look at some of the ways you can get your business ready for anticipated events, and look a little way into the future to see risks coming!
Product Launches
One of the aspects of new product development that some businesses can neglect is concept testing. This kind of research comes very early in the design process, ensuring that consumers understand the ideas you’re developing and see a need for them in their lives. However good your product is, if your customers don’t understand what it is, what it does and why it’s valuable to them, they won’t spend money on it.
Good concept test surveys ensure you can look at your product development cycle from the perspective of your customers, putting together offerings that anticipate what they want, need and value in your brand.
Funding
Finding the right funding model is important for your business, and it’s not a question that goes away when you’re over the initial financial hurdle of setting up your brand. Once you’ve built a successful business that’s supporting itself on the revenue of its customers, you’re going to want to grow – whether that’s by developing new products or expanding into new locations of markets.
Whatever you choose, you’ll need to finance it, and the right funding model for your business is something you should be preparing to think about in advance, so when the time comes you can make an informed decision that gives you the best chance of success.
Banks are a traditional source of funding for small businesses, but they can be reluctant to lend in uncertain times. They’re also conservative lenders, so if your businesses is developing ideas at the cutting edge, a bank might not see the value in them.
Research investors who work in your niche, and specialist governmental grants and loans that may be available to small businesses in your area or industry so that when the time comes you can push forward with your plans!
Disaster Planning
No one plans to fail, but it’s well worth having contingency plans in place should your planned for success not materialise. Any significant expansion or development requires committing resources in the expectation of growing your revenue – whether that’s by bringing more money into your business or making your processes more efficient to avoid waste.
Before you begin such a project, try to ensure you have enough money in the bank to cushion the blow should this investment not repay you!