After the year of a global pandemic, planning for 2021 takes on a whole new light. Its highly likely that the actions that made you successful during 2020, were not the ones you had planned. Resiliency and the ability to pivot were key factors of success in 2020. So, what things should you be incorporating into your 2021 plans?
Embrace reality
2020 definitely exposed strengths and weakness and now is the time to look at those in more detail. How can your business capitalise on the current economic environment? In a time of economic depression, it is natural to look for ways to cut costs. If you havent already, then this is definitely a place to start, but the real but winners in 2020 were the innovators.
Techniques like SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) can help you not only assess your current business, but also highlight opportunities for the future.
Find out more about SWOT analysis here
Read about the positives of 2020
Set clear objectives
While many financial forecasts are predicting moderate market growth in 2021, be cautiously optimistic and incorporate adaptability. If the economy worsens before it gets better, flexible goals, processes and strategies can help to stabilise a business. It helps to incorporate some optimism too. If your business has identified opportunities, capitalise on these. Goals should be stretching, but achievable.
Find out more about market predictions
People
Dont forget the core of your business the people. Yes, you need to maintain the bottom line, but make sure you are also planning for a supportive company culture and a work-life balance. This is especially crucial if you are dealing with remote working. Think about things like flexible working and a generous number of PTO hours. When companies take care of their people it leads to more loyal employees.
Find out more about remote working trends in 2020
Time management
We all wish there were more hours in the day, and we all know that making the most of time is fundamental to business success. Taking time out from the business to plan and identify opportunities, especially in the time of a global pandemic, can feel like an indulgence. Here are some great time management tips that you can build into your planning for 2021:
- Plan to use a tool to audit your time: using a tool to identify how you spend your time will help you to focus on what needs to be done.
- Set clear time limits for tasks and objectives within your plan
- Identify the most important tasks in your business day to day tasks and those that are opportunities for growth, and prioritise these in your plan
- Delegate or outsource work out which roles you need to do internally, and perhaps train staff for, and which roles you could outsource.
How outsourcing can help
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) can not only help alleviate some of the stresses of time management on the business. There are lots of other benefits too, including:
- Controlling capital costs outsourcing converts fixed costs into variable costs and helps release capital for investment elsewhere in your business.
- Increasing efficiency using a specialist outsourcing company can provide economies of scale that are simply impossible internally.
- Focussing on your core business shifting the focus of peripheral activities by outsourcing those allows you to concentrate on the core of your business.
- Reducing risk market, government regulations, financial conditions and technologies can all change very quickly. Outsourcing providers are specialists in their industry and can assume and manage this risk for you.
More information
If you are interested in building BPO into your 2021 business plan, give us a call.