Lessons Learnt: Preparing Your Business for 2019
With tensions of the ongoing US-China trade war and cybersecurity concerns anchoring news headlines in the past year, 2018 has been pretty eventful on the economic and business front. It goes without saying that major global events in geopolitics and geo-economics have created an impact on businesses around the world. Singapore, as a highly developed free-market dependent on the global economy will also be inevitably affected by economic changes as well.
As the year draws to a close, let’s take a look at how businesses in Singapore can learn from key happenings in 2018 and better prepare themselves – especially amidst the challenges of economic uncertainty in 2019.
1. Collaboration, Not Competition
Rather than keeping up with the competition, companies should look at pooling resources and collaborating, which can often produce an effective solution. The idea is to create an ecosystem where “everyone grows together,” which can result in “sustainable and symbiotic growth,” urged Dr Robert Yap, Executive Chairman of YCH Group, at Canon’s recent Think Big Leadership Business Series 2018: Outlook 2019.
2. Adapt to a Digital Age
2019 will inevitably invite a new wave of technological advancement. In our digital era, the key to keeping abreast is to look into digitising your business as early as possible. While companies, particularly SMEs, might be deterred to go digital because of its significant price tag, it is important to note that the benefits of digitising far outweighs its costs, particularly in the increasingly digital world that we live in. Technology is a more than just a tool – is your company ready to harness it to the best of its capabilities?
3. Innovation is Paramount
Another key way to prepare your business is to continuously innovate. With the many disruptive forces affecting our industries today, innovation is critical for companies to stay relevant and keep a competitive edge. Besides the product inventions or enhancements, Dr Michael Teng, CEO of the Singapore Innovation & Productivity Institute, suggests that the idea of innovation can also be applied to an enterprise’s business models. Companies also need to be creative across the supply chain to stay relevant and protect their bottom lines in today’s cutthroat business environment.
4. Create a Culture that Communicates
While keeping in mind that technology is critical to business growth, it is also important to understand that maintaining relationships with your employees, partners and customers are just as vital. In the context of today’s digital era where AI and chatbots have started to infiltrate in our daily lives, we need to remember the importance of the human touch. Forbes reminds us that “in order to innovate, it’s not enough to just come up with big ideas, you also need to work hard to communicate them clearly”. Your business could have the best technology but without clear communication channels and methods, big ideas cannot come to fruition.
5. Building Leadership and Business Values
Ultimately, the success of a company boils down to the strength of its leadership and how businesses set their direction. Dr Andrew Seit, CEO of Teck Sang Pte Ltd, describes the importance of giving your business a ‘soul’ by imbuing guiding principles and core values: “people, traditions and values are the soul of business and harmony is key to leadership”.
Having accountable leaders who invest in practices that promotes transparency in communication not only foster trust among their employees, but also show the willingness to invest in them. By strengthening such bonds, companies can be certain that there is a supportive team that you can rely on to ride the waves of change together.
In spite of the challenges and uncertainties that await in 2019, it is pivotal for businesses to stay alert and savvy. Always remember that challenges are a constant – in this light, businesses should be ever-ready, keep an open mind and make the challenges work for you instead of against you.
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