1.3 Rebuilding Revenue and Reducing Cost
Think big and outside the box!
Think big and outside the box!
The pandemic has taught us how quickly something can disrupt our daily lives and has pushed us out of our comfort zone. In almost no time, we have been finding ourselves facing difficult choices whose consequences have heavily impacted the way we live and work.
The pandemic has taught us how quickly something can disrupt our daily lives and has pushed us out of our comfort zone. In almost no time, we have been finding ourselves facing difficult choices whose consequences have heavily impacted the way we live and work.
The pandemic has taught us how quickly something can disrupt our daily lives and has pushed us out of our comfort zone. In almost no time, we have been finding ourselves facing difficult choices whose consequences have heavily impacted the way we live and work.
But not all evils come to harm, as being pushed out of the comfort zone gives us the unique opportunity to think big and outside the box, creating opportunities that we might not have had otherwise.
Thinking big and outside the box, gives you the power to:
Even though thinking outside the box is a fundamental step to take, planning is equally important, whether you are innovating, creating new products or simply removing 'the old stuff'.
Always make sure to plan out each and every step of your strategy, considering both future opportunities and possible risks. Risk is an inevitable component of planning, but it's not at all something we should be scared to face. In this sense, taking small risks is often the best way to move forward.
When it comes to rebuilding revenue, diversifying your markets is one of the first things to look at. Diversifying markets not only means adapting your current products to the new needs of existing customers (a process known as 'product development') but also creating completely new products for new customers (also known as 'product diversification').
The way we provide services has dramatically changed during the pandemic, with many businesses adapting their services to the new needs of the market. Digital transformation requires often the biggest effort, but if done well, it represents one of the most effective ways to rebuild revenue for your business.
During the pandemic, many businesses have been able to develop new services for their customers, utilising digital tools and implementing innovations that opened up new possibilities. Businesses that have been able to thrive were particularly the ones that not only managed to develop new products but focused their efforts on developing authentic and value-driven products, paired with a smooth and efficient digital strategy.
An excellent example in this sense is represented by Withlocals, a platform connecting local guides with tourists from all over the world. In response to the travel restrictions, the platform has managed to develop completely new online experiences, allowing local guides to provide their tours remotely.
The platform gives an amazing tool to local guides and small tourism businesses, allowing them to provide their services entirely online. It is a true example of how a service can be adapted to changes in customer's demand.
Similarly, Tastemakersafrika, a membership-based network of creators, artists and professionals from Africa has developed a new online experiences platform, allowing its members to connect and share authentic experiences across the world, promoting Africa, its culture and people. The initiative became particularly relevant during the pandemic, as it represented a very powerful way to support local guides and professionals.
From Brooklyn to Brazzaville, Brazil to Brixton, meet your folk, connect to the source, explore the world, and leave a legacy they’d be proud of.
The Shop Cuvée in London is another example of how simple digital tools can be used to overcome changes in demand. As the lockdown forced non-essential shops to close, what once was one of the most popular wine and cocktails bars in town managed to reinvent itself, opening up a successful online shop and providing Londoners with fresh drinks using a network of bike couriers. The shop has also created the 'Natural Wine Subscription' a subscription-based delivery service bringing the best natural wines directly at the customer's door.
Mr Holmes Bakehouse is not an ordinary bakery, or at least it's not anymore. Forced to close during the lockdown, this small Californian bakery didn't give up and developed a completely new way of delivering to customers its products. The bakery put in place an extremely innovative online ordering and delivery concept: they delivered their most popular recipes straight to the door of their customers in the form of small kits comprising all ingredients, allowing anyone to bake their favourite bakery at home.
Our quick response to keeping our teams employed and the business in operation was to bring our product to your doorstep.
The initiative was a huge success, as the small bakery delivered thousands of kits both during and even after the lockdown. The online delivery represents one of the new services the bakery is offering and it has become a new business opportunity.
Service transformation is a fundamental step any business should undertake to cope with the changes in demand across markets. Service transformation starts by understanding how customer behaviour has changed. One of the most efficient ways to start the transformation is conducting a service audit on all customer touchpoints.
Touchpoints represent those parts of the customer journey where customers interact with your business, and this can happen before, during and after purchasing your product or service. Think about the moments where your customers engage with your product and map out all the key touchpoints along the journey.
Start by conducting a service audit: this means you have to evaluate your service based on every customer interaction along the customer journey. Start ideating on every touchpoint by focusing on the following:
Once this is done, start reflecting on how you can bring your strategy forward by doing the following:
The product itself is not enough to deliver value to your customers. The way a product is 'packaged' is often decisive in making your customers invest in your service. Packaging a product doesn't only mean creating a brand around it, but also creating added value.
Breaking down your product is an extremely effective way to understand all the key components that make your product unique. It is also a useful opportunity to better understand and further improve the single components of the product.
Packaging a product also means to create value around it, and value can be added to your products through different means. You can add value to your product by pairing up with partners, adding their services on top of your offering. You might also find new ways of tying-in specific expertise with services, or redefining the value of your product according to the changing customer needs.
Looking into the long term scenario, businesses must decide where to prioritise investments to make sure their offering is aligned with the new market trends.
In this context, we have identified three areas of priority every business should invest in to be better prepared for the future:
Sustainability as was already a trend on the rise before the pandemic, but now demand has risen dramatically, with an increasingly higher number of customers making more conscious choices in what they buy. As a business, the focus should not only be on developing a sustainable product but on implementing a real sustainable strategy for your business.
Shifting towards a sustainable business model means reassessing the way you operate as a business. This includes the way you handle stakeholders and team operations, but also how you source the components of your service and how your service is delivered to your customers.
Adopting a 'circular' business model that takes into consideration the needs of all stakeholders will translate into a more positive and value-driven strategy that will reflect on better service for your customers.
The 'new normal' is bringing uncertainty, economic downturn and instability. In such a context, investing in innovation can be a life-saver for many businesses. Innovation is, first of all, an attitude: adopting innovation means embracing a mentality that allows you to question your business strategy, changing it according to sudden changes in markets and regulations.
Innovation is a never-ending process that even the most successful businesses are required to embrace. A process that once run-in is able to continuously feed itself, sparking new opportunities for your business.
In a world where contactless and socially-distanced experiences are on the rise, investing in digital technology is a true key aspect to take into consideration for any business.
Digital technology though is not just a mere tool to enhance safety, but can act as a true driver of new revenue for your business. Why? Because technology improves not only the efficiency of your operations, enabling fast and agile adaptations to future changes, but also allows you to reach out to new markets, allowing your business to scale scope and operations.
The pandemic has taught us how quickly something can disrupt our daily lives and has pushed us out of our comfort zone. In almost no time, we have been finding ourselves facing difficult choices whose consequences have heavily impacted the way we live and work.
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