3 Ways to Determine if Your Business Model Is Destined for Success
Every year in the U.S., more than 670,000 new businesses are opened. By the end of the year, 20 percent of those new businesses will have closed their doors and shut down operations. The following year, another 30 percent will fail. Half of all businesses make it past the five-year mark, while just three out of every 10 stay open for 10 years or longer.
There is certainly no shortage of reasons why a business might fail, but there some common mistakes that usually contribute to a decline.
Not having a sustainable, viable business plan in place is one of them. Keep reading to learn a few questions to ask yourself to decide whether or not your business is destined for success.
1. Does Your Business Model Account for Changes in the Market?
Just a few short decades ago, online shopping was the stuff of science fiction. Now, experts believe that by 2040, 95 percent of all purchases will be made online. Businesses that were successful and thriving 10 or 20 years ago, but that failed to make the switch and begin allowing online sales, are now suffering.
It isn’t just adapting in an online, technology-centered world that businesses need to be concerned about, but having a business model that accounts for changes in the market is still a must if you want to stay relevant and profitable in the future.
2. Are You Planning Ahead Internally for Growth and Changes?
It isn’t just the external factors of change that you need to be accounting for. Internally, your business needs to be constantly forecasting sales, growth and operations. Forecasting in each of these fields means you can properly schedule staff, place orders, adjust your marketing and more.
Cloud-based call center software can help you forecast sales based on historic patterns, schedule back office staffing and more. You can even run unlimited “what-if” scenarios to help you better estimate how market changes might affect future success.
3. Have You Built Your Customer Reputation From the Start?
Predicting your business’ future demand and success is important. It allows you to better choose new products and services, manage your supply and keep the backend of your business running smoothly.
But while you’re busy supplying your customers with what they need, ask yourself whether you’re also listening in on what they want.
Managing customer relations right from the start makes it easier to avoid costly, disruptive relations nightmares. However, it also helps you better predict what will and won’t sell on the market.
Creating a Business Model That’ll Lead to Future Success
Beating the odds and helping your business make it past its first anniversary, fifth anniversary, 10th or any other important milestone does have to do with choosing products and services that stay relevant or that can be updated and improved year after year. Having a sustainable, streamlined business model is a must if you want to be successful and continue to grow.
By planning for changes in the market, forecasting backend business needs far ahead of time and putting customer reputations first right from the very start are three of the bases of a good business model. If you aren’t already, it’s time to start putting these strategies to work for your business today.