In The Next 5 Years, What Will Your Business Need?

Your business will need a lot of support in the near future. There’s a lot going down in the working world, and a lot of changes are being made on the horizon, and you’re going to need to stay on top of them all. After all, if you want a business to survive, you need to plan ahead to the very last detail. 

Of course, 5 years sounds like quite a long time right about now, but it’ll come sooner than you expect it to. You’ll need to anticipate the arrival of new and competing businesses, you’ll have to make room for new and burgeoning technologies, and you’ll constantly be trying to improve your profit turn over. Without a plan for the future, these elements are going to be very hard to manage. 

And thus, here are a few things you should keep in mind for your 5 year plan. The better structured it is in the here and now, the better your business will thrive when the time comes for these measures to be put into place. 

A Collection of Skills

It’s said that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and when you’ve got a business to oversee, and a future to plan for, you cannot afford to work with a weak link. A strong chain is all about the skills you have within your company, and a diverse business is one of the strongest you can find out there! Overall, you need to be sure the people who work for you fill a gap, and do so well. 

Of course, this sounds quite harsh, but it doesn’t have to be. In practice, there are all sorts of initiatives you can put in place to make sure your business chain is as strong as can be. Make sure you put them to good use within your own working environment, because they will very much matter in the long run. 

When you first hire someone on to your payroll, there’s a lot you expect from them. But one of the main things you shouldn’t expect is a complete understanding of how your company works. From day one, this is unrealistic, and you’ll set yourself up for a fail every single time. 

Give your people the space and time to learn. Let them get used to the way the office works, and make sure you’re there to guide the way for them. Let them come to you, encourage them to ask questions, and always offer a spot of training if they’re unsure about their position. 

After all, you hired them because they did well in the interview, and you love the samples of work they provided you with. Don’t let that potential go to waste, when it could be taking your company from strength to strength. And when you give someone a chance, and it is one they’ve never been given before, you know they’re going to do their best. 

A Lead on Technology

Technology is something a modern business can’t afford to be without. It afford you all kinds of edges over the competition, and you’d be hard pressed to find a business owner who doesn’t sometimes conduct operations from their own phone. We can’t always be stationed at a desk in a professional office, after all, and valuing flexibility is something technology allows us. 

And because of that, you’re going to want to plan for a lead on technology. The near future is coming, and seeing as we’ve come leaps and bounds in the last 10 years alone, you can guarantee big things are on the horizon. What do you need to try and fit in with this projected picture? It would be best to focus on your own IT capability. 

Indeed, simply looking at the four pillars of business growth will show you how integral IT can be to your business structure. If you’re trying to expand, and you place growth and development close to your business heart, you might want to schedule a whole new IT department into the business plan! Because once you can look after yourself, from a coding and hardware point of view, you can take your business website to all new heights. 

You could handle greater amounts of traffic with little need to further stabilize the server or network you run your online assets through. You would be able to handle all kinds of customer outreach without needing to schedule further hours into your day – you could take thousands upon thousands of emails in your inbox without needing another storage solution. 

You could even start your own podcast, to prove your business acumen to the world; it would be another way to bring your customers in, and establish a sense of brand loyalty. All in all, putting yourself at the forefront of technology would simply better guarantee your business a place of strength in the future, based on the trends we’re seeing right now. 

A Strict Working Schedule 

The time you spend at work needs to be worth it. Even if you head in as early as possible, before 9 in the morning, and you stay as late as the cleaners will let you, until 7 or 8 pm, you can waste the days you have in front of you. 

Because if you’re not as productive as possible during these times, and you spend most of your time sitting in front of the screen with some blank thoughts in your mind, you’re not going to get the most out of your working day. 

Which is where a stricter schedule comes into play – a strict working timeline goes hand in hand with the impetus we place on flexibility these days. If you’re trying to be a flexible worker, and allow your employees to work on a similar schedule, you need to be sure what you’re doing. And you need to be able to do it well! Don’t let a wishy washy scheduling system form a false sense of security. 

Mostly, that means cutting down the period of your working day, and focusing on getting the most out of yourself and your teammates. It helps to foster an environment of positivity, and helps to take the stress out of the air. A regular working day can feel quite rushed, overall, and that’s something you want to eliminate for the future. 

Your employees need to enjoy working for you, and want to do their best work for you, and a strict way of scheduling a day can help to create that feeling. 

So, What Does Your 5 Year Development Plan Look Like?

What do you find important in business? What elements do you place the most emphasis on? And what would you like to improve, and take a bit further in the near future? Because it’s these ideas that need developing, alongside the work you’re doing in the here and now.

You should focus on crafting right now. It takes time and a lot of effort, and you’re going to change your mind at least 3 or 4 times during the process. But don’t let your improvement ideas and plans to put them into action go to waste; take the time to write them down, sketch them out, and discuss them with your team. It’ll matter to you in 5 years time, so it’s something that you need to think about, and even worry about right now. The work you do will all pay off in the end.