As we move into a new year, you hear a lot about new year resolutions that people have made to help improve themselves in one way or another. Much of this is around health, family and finances all with a goal to find the desired self.
Similar to individuals, businesses too have a great opportunity to enter the new year with a different outlook and perception and setting a new year resolution for your business is a great way to do this.
One of the resolutions that I encourage small businesses and sole operators to do is to look review their current model and assess whether it’s still relevant to their local and / or target market.
Over the past year we’ve seen substantial changes across the entire consumer and business landscape and it’s certain that this has certainly changed the way customers not only interact but also personal changes that have affected their basic needs and wants.
The COVID environment has created a very interesting environment for businesses. We have seen some really negative figures around unemployment, job losses across many different industries. Not only were there losses but there were stand downs, people who still have a job but yet are relying on government assistance to be paid and not receiving their usual incomes. This has resulted in a proportion of society simply going back to purchasing only to support their basic needs including food, housing and clothing.
Outside of this there has been some interesting results achieved across the retail and trade categories. With consumers spending more time at home and with large family holidays simply off the agenda for now, many have had the chance to review what’s directly around them and looking at ways to improve on their home situation. For some, this may result in purchasing or moving homes, upgrading furniture, interior design changes as well as renovations and extensions with the goal to feel more satisfied with the home environment.
In years prior to 2020, we would have seen travel and holidays taking over our TV screens and radio stations in the months from October to December. Encouraging people to take a break, refresh for the new year. With this not being possible, the landscape completely changed we saw so much more from home based retailers, bulky good retailers, builders, renovation companies.
So, with the very evident change in consumer needs and wants, now is a great time for you to look at your business goals and set a new year resolution to keep relevant. Relevancy is not only important when driving new customers to your business but also retaining existing customers. If customers no longer feel that you can fill their need, they will shop around and look elsewhere.
Some practical types of changes that I’ve seen businesses do to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of their audience are:
- Travel agencies changing their focus from international destinations to local holidays
- Restaurants in areas with a younger generation adjusting their menus to allow for more vegan and healthy lifestyle options
- Retailers moving away from cheap price focused to Australian made, locally produced products
- Businesses that previously were store only introducing online and / or delivery options on a permanent basis
- Restaurants that were once dine in only offering a take away and / or delivery service
- Tradies working together to offer an end to end solution / one stop shop to make renovations easier
All these changes may sound fairly simple on paper however the impact that they have not only on the customer but the longer term benefits to the business are endless. By looking at your local market, the needs and the demands of your customers now, compared to last year, will allow you to really refresh and adjust your model to retain relevance, and customers.
So get your business healthy as well as yourself, look at a New Years resolution for your business to assess your relevancy, you might find it to be very beneficial!
Good Luck!
The Marketing Elf
©January 2021
The Marketing Elf 