1. Focus on growth and strategic thinking
It may seem natural that hard, hard work equates to constant business growth. However, this is not necessarily true. Spending all your time doing daily tasks can mean that the company is stagnating. Understanding problem solving as an achieved goal is a mistake; it actually looks more like a stop to change a flat tire.
This metaphor helps to understand the reactive versus the proactive. If a vehicle's wheel goes flat, it will not be able to continue on its way and will have to be replaced. When changing the tire, the reactivity is being applied; reacting to a problem. However, being proactive allows problems to be prevented, so that efforts are not focused solely on fighting fires or patching tires.
The time invested in planning and implementing effective dynamics is more valuable than knowing exactly how to solve those problems accurately. Going back to the vehicle example: you would probably have to consider another way to reach your destination. Understand how the problems that arise can be solved, but that this leads to a deep understanding of the situation. Having corporate mechanisms that contemplate future problems and offer comprehensive support is a sign of this proactivity.
Where should a business grow?
In reality, the answer to this question has a lot to do with the particular experience of each entity. Also, what does it mean to grow up? Does freeing up processes and automating them imply growth? It is a term very quick to interpretation. What is certain is that any company aims to be more efficient, improve its quality, provide better service, have greater profitability and a long etcetera.
The best way to determine where to grow is to identify those points in the processes of a company that can be carried out in an efficient way. Of course, there is always a way to improve. For example, foreseeing the growth of a company's collections team implies the need to develop new solutions for it to function optimally. Considering a service that guides and guarantees the proper functioning of these types of processes that become complex with growth is equivalent to understanding in which direction this evolution of the company is going.
2. Strategic use of technology
Technology has generally served the business world to automate, integrate, and redirect production, research, development, promotion, and sales processes. However, few companies explore technological systems that allow them to grow.
From a pragmatic point of view, this represents an exponential way for development, leaving in the hands of new technologies processes that were previously executed manually or in person. A clear example is the drastic change that banking has undergone: less than a decade ago it was impossible to have detailed information on a bank account without going to speak with an advisor. Today, it is enough to download a mobile application to execute all kinds of transactions and receive personalized information.
An article published by Forbes indicates that one of the main obstacles to implementing technology solutions in small and medium-sized companies is the misconception that these assets are excessively expensive and can affect liquidity.
It is not a secret that the smartphone environment is gaining more and more space, in fact, according to Abdul Rimaaz , smartphone users grew by 490% between 2011 and 2016 in Ecuador. This speaks a lot about how the dynamics of access to information and, therefore, to products change according to technological evolution.
3. A culture of planning
Putting new technologies to good use and thinking about strategic growth will not be successful if there is no planning that outlines the path and actions of a company.
Planning is the most important tool. In financial, organizational and strategic terms, planning means drawing a map of where you want to go.
When there is a significant client portfolio and the sustainability of the business depends on the timely payment of the accounts with those clients, it is essential to establish a follow-up process that guarantees the collection of those invoices. A deep understanding of the financial health of domestic and foreign clients is vital to maintaining and executing planning for business growth.
This implies minimizing the risk of falling into a large number of accounts receivable and not being able to dedicate to the true line of business. In addition to qualifying buyers on credit, it supports the collection process of unpaid accounts, and compensates in the event of not being possible to recover accounts receivable.
