What is flexibility in business?
Fundamentally, it’s the ability to adapt to short-term change. It’s the capacity to move with the times and “go with the flow” as the Taoists put it.
But achieving flexibility is easier said than done. Yes, there are many ways that you can achieve it, but we don’t always have the willpower or the character to do it.
We should, however, strive to be as flexible as we can be. The benefits are enormous. Companies that are flexible can respond to surges in demand, turn projects around faster and even deal with disasters more competently.
So, how do you become more flexible?
Create A Strong Network Of Support
If you explore the most flexible companies, you’ll notice that they all have a strong support structure in place. As you go deeper, you discover that they aren’t really just one firm, but actually a network of relationships with multiple backups and redundancies.
If you have a group of companies around you that can support you in disaster situations, you’re much more likely to survive. Insurance companies can deal with liability and natural disasters, MSPs can offer support for IT shutdowns, and reputation management agencies can help you protect yourself against social media storms that threaten your brand image.
Stay Calm
Staying calm might sound like moot advice, but it’s actually incredibly important. When the proverbial hits the fan, you want to be in a mental state that lets you respond successfully. If disaster strikes, you need to be clinical in your approach.
Plan Ahead
You never quite know what disasters will befall your firm, but you know with certainty that will happen at some point, so always plan ahead.
Write down a list of the ten things that are most likely to go wrong and threaten your business. Then put a robustness plan in place that allows you to deal with them, one by one. For instance, in the event of an electricity outage, you might need to invest in tent structures to house your generators. Or, in the event of a flood, you might want to keep your servers across multiple sites, not just one.
Remain Optimistic
If you take your business too seriously, it can be hard to remain optimistic. However, if you stay positive, you can usually make it through most problems.
Being optimistic is part and parcel of resilience. You could easily look on the negative side, given the number of problems in the world. But focusing on the good keeps you moving forward and actually helps build your energy levels.
Stay Open-Minded
Companies usually fail when they become closed-minded. They expect that things will stay the same forever, only to be jolted out of their stagnation by changes around them that are impossible to ignore. Just look at what happened to brands like Nokia and Kodak.
In summary, becoming flexible in your business’s superpower. If you can adapt to situations, instead of becoming rigid, you will ultimately win your chosen market.
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