The saying “new year, new me” floods everyone’s social media timelines whenever a new January ticks over. It’s a personal mantra individuals aspire to, to become better or to achieve goals they set for themselves, which could be anything from weight loss, saving money or re-organising their belongings. 

This shouldn’t just stop at the personal level, however, it should also apply to your business. 

Every new year brings new challenges and opportunities for your business, you don’t have to save your growth goals for the financial year. In order for your business to grow you need to aim high, set new goals and look back on what you’ve already accomplished to monitor your progress. 

What sets 2022 apart is that we’re edging closer to a post-pandemic world, with 2020 and 2021, the backdrop for the new year and informing 2022’s growth context. 

Businesses are opening up again, some starting from scratch, others ready to scale as the world slowly sets its sights on returning to ‘normal’ but we can’t forget about how COVID-19 affected the past and set the scene for the resurgence of businesses and the desire to grow in 2022. 

How COVID-19 affected businesses 

COVID-19 was an unprecedented global event that heavily impacted businesses, big and small. Thousands of workers had to adjust almost immediately, going from a traditional office to working remotely practically overnight. Operations were reduced beginning March of 2020 and borders closed, heavily affecting trade and companies that relied on it. The sector most affected were food and service industries, with 78% of them being hit hard by the effects of COVID-19 almost immediately.

When restrictions were slowly lifted as 2021 rolled around, a good number of businesses were able to recuperate because of increased demand. Consumers became more cashed up having spent less because of lockdowns and a fear of the constantly changing policies.

Industries like luxury goods and online shopping channels prospered as a result of how much people saved up. People looked to businesses that adapted to the lockdowns and restrictions and marketed their products and services accordingly, convincing these consumers to buy from them with convenience and customer experience top of mind. 

Naturally, every business wants to get back into the growth mindset after how hard the pandemic hit. In order to do that and to adjust to how consumers began to behave as a result of the lockdowns, you have to shift your mindset and double down on efforts to respond in a way that your target market will see your products or services as valuable. 

How have businesses responded to COVID-19?

The demand for different set-ups, new ways to deliver goods and services and evolving customer demands changed how businesses operated. Many were expected to double efforts at only half capacity, causing them to shift to different solutions for new problems they didn’t foresee.

While many business leaders were too focused on having to put out several fires in their day-to-day operations that they missed the opportunities that rising demand offered, some industries were able to find crafty fixes, however temporary, to remedy the situation. The future of business in Australia was something they looked to and worked backwards from, identifying major points they had to focus on in order to regain their momentum. Recognising the way in which they operated back then wouldn’t be sustainable post-COVID, there was an effort to respond in ways that would safeguard their success. 

A big contributing factor to businesses bouncing back was resilience, which was only fortified by the human element. Businesses that cared for and valued their employees who were under immense pressure succeeded because it was always the staff that carried businesses through. 

Businesses also saw the benefits of partnering up. 69% of Australian executives considered partnering up in order to lessen the impact of the pandemic. While healthcare and telecommunications enjoyed an uplift in their services, many transportation and food and service industries had to consider coming together in order to stay afloat. 

These takeaways informed businesses in their responses to the pandemic, helping them forge ahead despite restrictions. They looked into what they needed to do, determined the problems their businesses had and then took actionable steps in order to remedy those issues. This showed that business health checks are a necessary step to adapt to different situations.

There’s never a bad time to conduct a comprehensive business diagnosis, especially if you haven’t in a while. While business goals and standards constantly change as you move along, they probably need to shift, whether or not COVID-19 made a big impact. Business health checks can help you identify what path you need to take your company and what you have to do. 

5 actionable tips to grow your business in 2022

In order to meet the business trends of the future there are some essentials (past and present) you need to take into account. Here are five really useful tips you can apply to your business and get a headstart on your competition in 2022. 

1. Review the year so far

It might be tempting to put the last two years behind you and never look back. As ugly as it was there are still some insights you can use, so use them. Identify the problems you encountered and lessons learned to handle your business, your customers, your industry, your market, your staff, your suppliers with more experience and street smarts going forward. 

It’s a good idea to write it down and make a list of what you have learnt through the crisis. Putting everything in words will help lock the lessons in and give you something to look back on. Your list will help you identify certain trends, issues or even future opportunities that will allow your business to grow.

2. Work “on your business” rather than “in your business”

Working on your business in the areas that you need to be involved takes precedence over the areas that other people can and will handle for you.

Leave the hiring, training, selling and day-to-day processes to those who can handle it. Your focus is better spent on: 

• Strategy
• Systems
• Distribution
• Analytics
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Automation. 

This is not to say that hiring, training and those other processes aren’t important and don’t require your presence, but you have to trust that the team you have employed to do these jobs will do them efficiently, freeing your time to work on business matters that only you can make decisions on. 

Opportunities are more likely to eventuate when you look at the big picture. You can’t see the forest from the trees if you are stuck in the daily detail. 

3. Pay attention to the opportunities and threats in your SWOT analysis

The start of a new year is the perfect time to review your last Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Make sure you pay attention to the opportunities and threats. Focusing only on strengths and weaknesses means you may miss key opportunities in the external environment. 

This is something I’ve seen in my years as a business adviser. People get too stuck trying to avoid weaknesses that they miss out on opportunities and can’t foresee threats. 

In order to make the most out of your SWOT analysis:

• Take a deep dive into your business opportunities and threats
• Prepare a research paper or plan in relation to the opportunities you identify
• Put your steps into action to move forward

4. Hire proven high performers to create the best team possible

By adding high performers you think are key to your success to your team, you can execute strategic plans with the best possible quality. These people will not only be able to work well individually, but will collaborate with each other in a way that will help you and your business hit the ground running towards success. 

Hiring proven high-performers will fast track your business growth and push you towards new opportunities that will better you and your company. 

5. Develop and form key alliances

One thing businesses learned during the pandemic was that alliances made all the difference in terms of growth. This business trend will continue to be one of the best drivers of scaling your business. If you partner with the right business, you can solve a lot of your own problems and offer solutions to the other company, creating a mutually beneficial relationship.

One business should provide the product while the other provides the distribution or database to sell to. Joining together will help you strengthen revenue for both businesses. You also never know–you could even find a great partner in a business outside your industry.  

2022 is shaping up to be a great year, not just because it’s just begun, but because most areas are finally emerging from the difficulties that the pandemic brought and are adjusting to a world that is now better-prepared for unpredictable events. New systems are in place that will prepare employees for worst case scenarios while business leaders can feel more confident and at ease with moving forward.

Making 2022 your best year yet comes with preparation. When you look back on what happened and learn from it, you can best see what may be in store for your business. By acknowledging the role of technology and taking care of your employees, along with depending on others when necessary, you can safeguard your business success.

If you want to learn more about how you can succeed in business this year, give us a call.