What's holding you back from business growth? Is it you?
We’re in the downhill run to 2020 and things are still shaky at best for business growth. Sure, consumer spending may be up and the stock market continues to hit all time highs, but it doesn’t seem that businesses are growing at scale. Deloitte Insights published a great view on the US Economic Forecast last month illustrating the churn that many businesses are feeling. The problem is businesses are at a standstill while consumers continue to spend - which is a great deterrent or opportunity for growth.
We’ve identified the three trends holding you back from hitting your growth targets. From what we can see, the true holder for your growth success is you. No external force in today’s marketplace can stop you from leveraging the trends below. The business leaders that understand this know that now is the time to act to drive short-term and prepare for long-term growth. The conditions are perfect.
Budgets are stalled
There was a shocking New York Times article a couple weeks ago about spending. It says that consumers continue to grow their spending, while businesses continue to cut spending. In fact, “For the quarter that ended Sunday, for example, the economic research firm Macroeconomic Advisers projects that personal consumption will have risen at a 3.7 percent annual rate, while business spending on structures and equipment will have fallen at annualized rates of 4.6 percent and 4.4 percent.” This means that businesses aren’t investing in growth, hoping that the rise in consumer spending will organically grow the business and move the industry - putting both their short- and long-term prospects at risk.. Business leaders that are finding growth in today’s marketplace are seeing the opportunity to invest as their competition is pulling back.
Disruption is coming from everywhere
As we’ve discussed before, disruption isn’t just coming from startups - it’s coming from everywhere. The structure of industries and sectors is being challenged by the direct, adjacent and tertiary competition finding new ways to solve consumer challenges. Competition and disruption are no longer apples to apples comparisons, they are now a car versus a faster horse versus an Uber. Business growth leaders are starting to disrupt themselves to find new value propositions for their consumers. Doing so allows them to stay ahead fo the market and ahead of the consumer.
The consumer is changing faster than you can
Speaking of the consumer, they are changing faster than ever before. With connected devices, real-time media and rising expectations, consumers are continuously looking for novelty, time and value. These behaviors are eroding the traditional sense of loyalty for efficiency and experience - making brands to compete with the ‘default’ or expand their offering to continuously solve for consumer expectations. Growth leaders are always finding new ways to change along with consumer expectations. Whether it’s making the purchase process easier or finding new services or products to offer or building a more connected consumer experience, business leaders are standing out in the marketplace, by truly understanding and changing along with their consumer
There has never been a better time to invest in your business growth. All it takes it the right strategy and action.