Lets be honest, going digital is the “It” thing now. legacy businesses have either been forced to adapt or pushed out of the way to make room for younger, smarter businesses. A lot of businesses have freaked out and committed to anyone wo promises a “digital” business and then doesn’t deliver. Here’s how you can avoid the same mistakes.
Define what success looks like. Instead of jumping headlong into an abyss with no planning, consider taking a moment to grab a parachute. By that we mean, plan. Sit down and think what digitization can do for your business. Will it be more convenient for customers? Will it make a healthier work environment? Will it cut unnecessary workarounds? Will the results be immediate or more long term? Is this method more feasible? These are questions you need to ask at the infancy of your move to digital.
How will you get there? Now that you have some idea of your goals, focus on the “from-to” shift. What happens now? How will this affect your employees? What new qualifications do you need? You also need a quantitative measurement of whether our efforts are bearing fruits. An easy way to do this is to calculate your ROTI(Return on Time Invested). Take your total revenue and divide by the number of employees for the calculation.
Define your competition. The advent of digitization has made it possible to find allies and partners in the most unlikeliest of corners. It has also made it possible for small businesses and startups to compete with legacy brands. The direct-to-consumer approach opens the playground to a lot of competition.
“Tend to your ecosystem” One of the best features of digital is the flow of information and its accessibility. As you make your plan, you also need to carefully consider who needs t be part of this ecosystem. How you can form a “give and get” relationship that is mutually profitable.
Conduct Actual experiments. Practical. small sale experiments guarantee practical insights that will be true only for your business. These insights can create huge value for your business and are always better than big ideas that you cannot test.
In order for your business to successfully go digital, these five points need to go hand in hand with current digital trends. Digitization is not slowing down, as has been evident since the onset of the pandemic. Even the most opposed are now passionate about this trend. Its safe to say that digitization is here to stay.