You may have heard of the Charles Handy analogy, of the frog in boiling water. It is based on the idea that if you were to put a frog in boiling water, it would immediately jump out to avoid the extreme heat, but if you were to put a frog into cold water and heat it up gradually, the frog would stay in the water and be boiled to death. Keeping up with the ever evolving and shifting business world is essential to ensure continued success and to avoid the fate of the poor old frog (figuratively speaking, of course).

 

At some point, you will need to invigorate your company. As business people, we don’t operate in isolation and it is important to keep abreast of any changing developments in your industry and others. Invigorating the company and bringing in new ideas will help you to keep up with your competitors. Better than that, you’re more likely to become a major mover in your sector!
 

This can be hugely assisted by engaging with a few key people in your business’s industry each year. Use the opportunity to ask questions about the sector’s future, including the direction it’s heading and important changes you should be aware of. You can then feed these conversations back to your colleagues before adjusting your business accordingly. Of course, we’d all like a crystal ball to see into the future, but in the absence of that, looking to some important people within your field, to find out the lay of the land for the upcoming months is a good place to start.

 

Reinvention has always been key to profitable, well-established companies. It’s this adaptation that ensures they are still around today. Suzuki and Nokia are two international companies that demonstrate this excellently.
 

It’s hard to imagine Nokia as anything other than a successful mobile phone manufacturer. However, the company was originally a 19th century, Finnish, ground wood pulp producer before diversifying into various other industries including electricity generation, rubber production, paper products and military technology. The result of all that reinvention means that today, Nokia is a global leader in 5G, networks and phones.

 

Suzuki wasn’t involved in the motor car industry at all to begin with. The company started out in the early 20th century building weaving looms for Japan’s silk industry, and later for imported cotton. With the decline and subsequent collapse of the cotton market in 1951 the business saw an opportunity to enter the small motorcycle market. Demand for cheap personal transport was at an all-time high in post-war Japan and by 1954, Suzuki were manufacturing 6000 motorcycles a month. You don’t need me to tell you how successful the motor vehicle manufacturer has become since then.

 

Now, over to you. What proactive steps could you take to ensure that your company is keeping up with the times? This could be anything from adapting your messaging, to adding additional features to your website. Web chat functions, for example, could help to elevate your business by giving your customers an extra channel through which to reach you, while increasing their time online to engage with your products or services. Look at hot topics across your industry; from diversity to the latest technology innovations. Ask yourself what it is you need to make sure you are one step ahead in today’s fast-paced business world.