Want to beat your competition to opportunities as well as protect youself against future threats?
Sniffing out what may give you significant competitive advantage can have a significant upside. Looking for, assessing and analysing opportunities has the happy side effect of exposing strategic risks that can threaten the very survival of your organisation. So as well as being part of sensible marketing, seeking out what may enhance your revenues and profitability will also help you prevent damage or even fatal threats to your organisation.
It would be sensible to carry out actions with the following objectives:
- Discovery - Whilst we cannot 'know' the future there are techniques available that allow some intelligent anticipation of what is most likely to happen in the future. Combine that with tracking trigger indicators and you may find new opportunities and avoid the worst kind of unexpected threats.
- Prevention - Many common sense preventative measures are now included in corporate regulation covering fire, health & safety etc - but not all. Detailed risk assessment and well formed business continuity plans, well rehearsed and kept up to date can make all the difference between surviving a disaster and going under.
- Preparation - creating robust plans, informing and training your staff and other stakeholders and regularly updating and rehearsing all procedures is fundamental to preparations for the random threatening event. However on its own it may not be quite enough. Many organisations have a press office which is firmly embedded in their crisis teams and plans and can manage internal and external communications in a crisis. What though of the smaller organisation? It is even more important that they make plans for handling communications. Their reputation may depend upon it.
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Focus on Retail
Verdict Consulting have produced a new report for ActiveResilience: The Future of Retailing – Risks and Opportunities, July 2008.