Constant innovation is key to the success of any business. A business must act in spite of fear and embrace fearless growth if it is to dominate and intelligently respond to the fast pace of change, advancements in technology, new and disruptive business models, and changing customer expectations.
But what is a fearless business growth?
Fearless growth means quickly and intelligently responding to the fast pace of change to maximise the potential of all business levels and functions, utilising the creativity, responsiveness and agility within.
Here are seven rules to help every company survive and achieve fearless growth (based on ‘Fearless Growth: The New Rules to Stay Competitive, Foster Innovation, and Dominate Your Markets‘ – Amanda Setili):
1. Embrace Uncertainty
Uncertainty is normal in every business. For a business to remain steady when uncertainty arises, business leaders and decision-makers should learn to identify the situation, take and manage risks, and exploit any uncertainty to advance the business.
Successful business leaders are those who accept uncertainty and embrace crises. They examine their own identities and existing habits, reinvent themselves and actually grow from such circumstances.
2. Engage Customers
Customers are powerful components of every business. Customers are now well-informed, demanding, tech-savvy and communicative.
Every organisation should be increasing their customer engagement and interaction. And, in doing so, the business will be able to:
– gain beneficial insights;
– improve market offerings, and
– innovate products and services that will stimulate growth
When customers contribute with insights and feedback, they become engaged with the business. Businesses become better equipped to mitigate risk and remain prepared for the improvements and innovation they require to take in the future.
3. Partner, Borrow and Share
Thriving companies such as Amazon, Ebay and Google did not use physical assets to grow their business. They engaged and partnered with other companies, strategised and shared data as well as knowledge assets and talent from other companies to be able to achieve success.
Partnering with other businesses will increase your talent abilities, data, assets, technology and knowledge. This will then leverage the ideas and capabilities outside your organisation while strengthening the people, processes and capabilities within your organisation.
4. Connect and Strengthen your Ecosystem
Building a powerful ecosystem is another way of uplifting your business capabilities. Famous brands like Apple and Amazon strengthen their connections with their partners, sellers, customers, and many others to enhance business performance and growth.
To accomplish their business goals, business leaders must ask for help from external talents such as freelancers, bloggers, micro-businesses and individual innovators to achieve far more than they could on their own.
5. Open the Floodgates of Employee Creativity
Nurturing employees and allowing them to contribute to the business is one way of maximising business resources while supporting employees to unleash their creativity and productivity.
When you provide employees with the knowledge, power and network they need, you invariably open the floodgates to hidden and untapped talents. So, getting employees to be more involved will make them more motivated, effective and happy at work.
6. Achieve Fast and Fearless Learning
Constant and fast learning from failures and successes is one of the best competitive advantages a business can have.
In a fast-changing global economy, businesses could learn from a ‘fail fast, and succeed faster,’ approach.
This means being proactive in acquiring new knowledge and implementing these learnings to get a leg-up on competitors.
Using the knowledge gained from learning and other experiences allows a business to develop strategies to meet complex needs.
7. Build Trust
Trust is the most important ingredient that enables speed and efficiency. Trusting your business partners, customers and suppliers means you are confident that together, you will achieve success.
A business is based on building relationships with the team, vendors and customers. Hence, by making trust a focal point in your business, you strengthen the possibility of achieving better business growth and development in unison.
