Recent years have brought no shortage of volatility for businesses across all industries and of all sizes, and with the landscape continuting to shift in major ways as we enter 2024, business success demands rethinking too.
Â
Industry analysts predict that economic turbulence, geopolitical tensions and climate events will mean 2023 hands off uncertainty into the new year. Yet for savvy leaders, strategic opportunities await for businesses positioning themselves resiliently.
Â
By focusing on key areas - from resilience to sustainability - you can empower your organisation to not only survive but thrive in the year ahead.
Â
Here are the top 10 essential areas to focus leadership time, investment and strategic energies on in 2024:
1. Build Business Resilience
With unpredictable demand and supply issues likely to persist, ensure your operations can smoothly scale capacity up or down to match needs in real-time. Only 34% of UK SMBs currently have this kind of flexibility ingrained.
Â
Invest in demand forecasting technology, automate production and scheduling, hold stock buffers and develop ecommerce channels. These tools will help improve responsiveness to market variables by better predicting customer requirements, optimising workflows to meet them, and accessing capacity buffers or alternate fulfillment pathways when the unexpected happens.
Â
The Opportunity: Businesses with resilient operations can rapidly adapt to capitalise on market fluctuations through agile delivery, rather than losing out. Embracing automation and utilising predictive analytics tools will allow you to translate your valuable business data into actionable strategic insights.
Â
The Risk: Without ingraining responsive plans and processes, you risk falling behind nimbler competitors who will be better able to adapt. Inflexibility will criple your ability to meet customer requirements amid changing market forces.
2. Stress Test Financial Assumptions
3. Enhance Digital Capabilities
4. Commit to Eco-Conscious Practices
5. Treat Employees as a Strategic Asset
6. Explore Shared Services Partnerships
7. Establish Customer Advisory Panels
8. Invest in Leadership Development
9. Develop Future Planning StrengthÂ
10. Access On-Demand Strategy SupportÂ
The most resilient businesses balance consistent execution with proactive steps, to acheive sustained success. Use the new year as a catalyst for laying your new foundations and whatever challenges and opportunities 2024 delivers!
Â
Need support addressing these key focus areas? Our leadership development, strategy consulting and strengths development services empower forward-looking businesses to build organisational capabilities and maximise emerging opportunities even amid uncertainty. Let's connect to explore how we can become a planning partner tailored to your growth goals. Book a call today!
Only 34% of UK SMBs currently have flexibility ingrained - source: McKinsey Global Small Business Survey from August 2021
Tools like demand forecasting technology, inventory buffers, etc boost responsiveness - Source: Supply Chain Insights Global Summit 2022 presentation
Almost half of UK SMBs acknowledge lacking vital digital skills - Source: Lloyds Bank 2021 Business Digital Index report
Technology projected to enable over 80% of growth opportunities ahead - Source: Dell 2022 Digital Transformation Index
50% of consumers rank sustainability as more important after recent societal shocks - Source: IBM Institute for Business Value research brief from 2021 survey data
70% of SMBs say leadership capability gaps undermine growth - Source: 2022 SME Recovery Report from Aston Business School
Over 50% of businesses say they have minimal capabilities predicting major industry shifts - Source: Gartner survey featured in Smarter With Gartner IT Symposium 2021