No one dives into the ocean, hoping to be snapped by a shark. Likewise, no one starts a business with failure in mind. Every business owner stepped into the venture with high hopes.
No one dives into the ocean, hoping to be snapped by a shark. Likewise, no one starts a business with failure in mind. Every business owner stepped into the venture with high hopes.
Unfortunately, regardless of good intentions, not all businesses succeed. In fact, some are doomed to fail from the start.
It could be tough fronting a bold face when your business is crumbling before your eyes despite all efforts to make things work.
Perhaps your business is not crumbling but it's stagnant. There's not much difference. A stagnant business will eventually crumble. If a plant is not growing, it's dying.
To move your business forward, whether crumbling or stagnant, you must jump on the innovation train. Business operations and trends are changing, and so should you.
After reading this article, your eyes will be open to innovative solutions that will turn your drowning business into one making waves.
Discussing innovative solutions without touching on digital transformation is like baking a cake without eggs. It just won't taste like cake. Digital transformation is simply the act of adopting modern technological innovations for business growth.
When you integrate digital technologies into your business, it impacts your operations and service delivery. It makes you rethink your old work processes and get more innovative.
The word 'transformation' means a dramatic change in form or nature. It implies a process. So, a company doesn't just undergo a digital transformation abruptly; there are stages to go through. Here are 6 stages you'll pass through in transforming old business models into new ones.
Every transition starts from the initial stage. This is also known as the ‘business as usual’ stage. It's the stage where the business owner realizes there's a problem. It's probably the stage you're in now. You've seen the need for a change and are willing to embark on the journey.
At the interest stage, you've started observing competitors living your digital transformation dream. You've noticed the changes it brings to their companies and you desire the same.
This is the stage where you start making moves on embarking on the transformative journey. You research the technological transformations you'll be needing and how they will grow your organization.
At the strategic stage, you've made a decision on ways you'll transform your business digitally and everyone in your company is on board.
The action stage is when you set the ball rolling. You invest human and financial resources in the steps and tools you've decided on.
At this stage, the company is in complete acceptance and practice of digital transformation. The full implementation is on and policies and procedures are formulated accordingly. Team members have also become digitally oriented and are open to new solutions.
Regardless of how excited you are to join the innovation wagon, you must do it right. If you adopt digital solutions without being inadequately informed, you’ll be laying a foundation for regrets. To help you avoid this, I've curated a list of 4 essential innovative solutions that will guarantee business growth.
A document management system (DMS) is the use of computers and software to store, manage, track and retrieve documents. It is a solution that helps you organize, capture, digitize, secure, tag, approve and complete tasks with business documents.
With a document management system, the document life cycle of your business processes is simplified. Once the system is in place, received or created documents are incorporated smoothly and the ball keeps rolling.
In this digital era, you can't afford to continue managing your documents the old-fashioned way. A DMS lets you do much more with documentation in record time. And you bet it comes with loads of benefits.
Benefits of a Document Management System
Online parking booking system is one digital innovation companies often sleep on. They pay attention to all the 'shiny' aspects of business and ignore their parking management. However, they soon discover that a working parking system is an essential part of marketing.
Let's visualize this scenario. A client sees your advert online or in the traditional media and decides to come and do business with you, or at least learn more about what you offer. They spend about an hour getting to your office and finding a parking space takes another 30 minutes.
By the time they meet any representative, they're already exhausted and demotivated. They've lost any enthusiasm they had before setting out due to the compounded stress. So, they're not in a receptive mood to make any purchases.
Now, let's say they don't want to waste their visit and decide to patronize you regardless. Will they be motivated to come again? Not likely. What happens to the resources used for sales campaigns? It's gone down the drain.
See how important something as simple as a parking lot is to marketing? Let's not even get started on how an ineffective parking system affects employees.
With an online parking booking system, both clients and staff members can book a slot before setting out. They're confident that they have a spot waiting for them and won't waste time looking for one.
Benefits of an online parking booking system
Customers are the heartbeat of any business and the way you manage them determines if you’ll float or drown. If you want to compete favorably in this digital age, however, the old ways of customer relationship won't cut it. Every company worth its salt now uses a Customer Relationship Management System (CRMS).
CRM technology helps you manage your interactions and relationships with clients and prospects more effectively. Instead of managing clients and prospects with multiple scattered apps, spreadsheets and databases, one software does all the job.
Benefits of a Customer Relationship Management System
Another part of business management that can benefit from innovative solutions is the human resource department. An HRMS is a range of applications used in managing human resources and other relevant procedures.
It is used to support human resource functions like recruiting, training, payroll and so on. With a human resource management system, you can run an organized and efficient human resource unit.
Benefits of a Human Resources Management System
It’s a tough terrain out there and businesses that don't innovate will be eliminated. However, you have a choice – you can move with the trends or you can choose to be left behind. If you choose the latter, you’ll go through the digital transformation stages and strategy.
Innovative solutions can be applied to every aspect of your business. The four solutions discussed here are Document Management System, Online Parking Booking System, Customer Relationship Management System and Human Resource Management System.
Benefits of these technologies include cost- and time-effectiveness, better collaboration, enhanced productivity, improved security and increased bottom line.
