Like a lot of businesses, we’ve changed the way we operate during the pandemic and we’ve had almost two full years responding to the crisis to survive the storm. As we begin 2022, it’s time to leave Covid behind so we can recover, reset and regrow. Is the same true for you – is 2022 the year to grow your business?
As we all shift from response to recovery, the key for business owners is to make crucial strategic decisions now; decisions that will lead them to a renewed and sustainable future state. Here’s how to plan for growth in 2022.
Key business growth strategies post-covid
- Understand your customers – customer needs have evolved over the past two years, particularly what they want and what motivates them. Understanding this is crucial to both marketing and sales. Is your marketing still speaking to your customers? Are your products/services still relevant for them? Is 2022 the year to add in different marketing strategies?
- Improve/automate processes in scalable ways – how can you streamline your operation’s processes and workflows so you can rinse and repeat, and improve efficiency? You’ll need to do this to scale your business.
- Build resilience through strategic planning – how did the pandemic stretch and break your existing models? These are the current weaknesses in your business and operating models, so this is where the risk and opportunities are. Using scenario-planning/strategic planning, you can then put measures in place to build resilience for future disruptions (and this should be repeated regularly).
- Start being serious with your resource and capacity planning – if you can forecast the gap between the capacity and the demand for resources, you can create an action plan to bridge this gap beforehand. For example, through busy season, it may be worth outsourcing some work.
- Look at your finances – once you’ve made your plans, you should know where to cut back on certain expenditures and where to invest more. Investing in high growth areas will increase profit and is key for sustainable growth.
- Focus on hiring (and retaining) top talent – talent is scarce right now, so you want to build a dedicated and loyal team that will grow with you. If you don’t have the right support team that is actively contributing to the growth of your business, it’s time to talk to a recruiter.
- Build a strong business culture – with so many people still working from home, business culture and team cohesion has never been so important. If you want to achieve your new growth goals, you’ll need to focus on culture and effective leadership practices to encourage and motivate your team.
Focus on flexibility and resilience in 2022
Businesses that seek growth will need to focus on the future and prepare for recovery. You will need to identify the growth areas in your business so you can nurture them, but also your weak areas so you can strengthen them. We all need to take the lessons learned from the past two years and use them to create a new way forward.
If you’d like some help to organise and grow your business for 2022 and beyond, get in touch today.
