If you’re like most business owners, by the time February rolls around you’re deeply immersed in day-to-day “firefighting”, pressing sales issues, contingency planning and other activities associated with running your enterprise. We tend to allocate our planning time to the first few weeks of the year – and then we’re off to the races.
But in reality, planning should be a dynamic process. The world around us is constantly evolving. If we don’t continuously look out into the marketplace and ponder how emerging trends might impact our businesses, we will be left behind. With each passing day, new technologies are disrupting the status quo of how we do business, new competitors are establishing themselves by leveraging changing conditions, and consumers are behaving differently based on decisions made with more insight gained from a wealth of information accessed in real time on their mobile devices.
For these reasons, enlightened business owners take the time to think outside of their companies. One resource to spark your thinking is a recently published briefing by Global Trends that highlights where to access the best of 2013 trends – see http://bit.ly/ZrucRF. Another suggestion is to read books by various thought leaders. Jack Uldrich, a futurist, recently shared his picks for the top 10 books published in 2012 – see http://bit.ly/10fsCbj.
These are just a couple of the resources that might help you think in new ways. The places you can turn to for insight regarding your industry and markets are endless. But thankfully, it’s not about the quantity of time you apply to this activity. Rather, it’s about the quality of reflection you do. Don’t become trapped within the four walls of your company. Allocate a few hours each month to look outside, and think proactively about what you must do to stay competitive and grow your business.
