How Can You Protect Your Business From External Factors?

Running a business has never been a simple endeavour; there are many things you need to track as a business leader in order to ensure maximum profitability and business resilience. While you can effectively manage internal variables, from staff to quality of service and supply, there are numerous kinds of external factors that can disrupt your business’ day-to-day operations. What exactly are these external factors, and how can you seek to prevent them from affecting your work?

Environmental Factors

There are, of course, physical factors that can affect the operation of your business. The location of your offices, warehouses or retail storefronts alone can have an impact on business, but weather conditions and adverse meteorological events can often cause unpredictable disruption.

In particular, the increasing severity of storms and floods presents renewed risk of disruption to utility supply; and any resulting power cuts can render a business out of operation until repairs can be conducted. There is little you can do to prevent weather from disrupting your conventional utility supply, but investing in emergency equipment like generators can enable you to continue working through the disruption.

Competition

The external factor with which most businesses are most pre-occupied is that of other businesses. Competitors and new companies can be an existential threat to the existence of your business, necessitating strong and ever-evolving business strategies to maintain relevance.

There are several angles from which a business can do this, but improving customer service is arguably the most effective. Consumers value businesses that are in touch with their customers, and being able to demonstrate an active, hands-on approach to handling customer queries and complaints will stand your business in good stead.

Technological Advancement

Another factor that can have a similar effect to competition from other businesses is that of technological advancement. As technology continues to improve, and newer, more convenient iterations of existing applications and products become commercially available, it is important for businesses to keep track.

Without updating tools and services in concert with recent innovations, businesses can quickly become outmoded and lose their customer base. As such, you should be sure to keep your finger on the pulse when it comes to industry-specific innovations. You may need to adjust your offering to keep up with external trends or re-invest in more advanced toolsets for your employees to use internally.

Economic Disruption

One particularly prescient external factor that can affect the health of your business is the economy; we are currently experiencing unprecedented economic disruption, as the invasion of Ukraine, the receding coronavirus pandemic and the Brexit withdrawal agreement combine to cause rampant inflation against stagnating wages.

As a general rule, your business should be prepared for the worst while taking advantage of the best. A healthy economic landscape represents a good time to shore up savings and assets, which can in turn assist your business when things take a turn for the worse.