How entrepreneurs are adapting to a new way of thinking

As a marketing industry entrepreneur, it was easier to do than most, but for the mainstream, there have been struggles.

Many businesses had to pivot their business models or become obsolete. Others were faced with an influx of business that created a new direction or an adaptation of how they work to accommodate an influx of business.

There are many areas in which entrepreneurs adapted:

Business model: If your business wasn't running a flat organisational structure, COVID became a reason to do so. Putting in measures so that employees could monitor their own performance and share with other team members facets of their jobs that may have previously been "managed" was imperative to being able to handle the disconnect of not being in person. Moving forward, many entrepreneurs are testing new business models to help them grow.

Team building: With management being pushed to the limit, many leaders have been faced with increased responsibility and reporting. This has meant that they are less available to their teams and therefore a heavy reliance on collaboration within teams has come to the forefront. Moving forward, this has freed up time for managers to work "on the business" and not "in the business".

Education and Training: When everyone is in the office, sometimes education and training goes to the wayside, but with many people working from home, there is more hours in the day due to efficiencies. Business leaders are realising that by putting in place new education and training programs, largely completed digitally, they are improving the skills of the workforce and also increasing their own productivity and ability to compete in the market.

New technology adoption: We work with SAP Channel Partners and as such, have seen an influx of companies seeking to improve their people management by using such solutions as SuccessFactors or doing large ERP upgrades. The technology industry has been a big winner over the past 12 months as more companies see greater value in using technology to improve efficiencies, cut costs and achieve greater ROI.

Flexible work structures: Working from home has become a "thing" but so too is working from remote locations. Employers have had a huge shift realising that their employees can work from anywhere and while we are all jealous of someone working from the beach or the ski slopes, the productivity of doing so ensures huge dividends for businesses. Employees are also realising that they don't need as much money as they thought. This change of mindset means that many employees are seeking reduced hours for a better quality of life.

Digital marketing strategies: How companies market has changed because our customers want different things. Understanding the new customer experience expectations is critical to survival. That has led to companies who may have not invested as much as they should, to use digital marketing strategies as part of how they connect to customers and prospects.

Being an entrepreneur is hard enough, but being one that has to adapt so fast in order to survive is life changing. I've thoroughly enjoyed being forced to change my thinking, adapt to a new business environment and provide employees with the ultimate working conditions.