Why Microbusinesses Should Consider Digital Transformation: The research is clear for middle-sized and large businesses in all sectors of the economy, but conventional wisdom states that micro- and small- businesses don’t have either the capital or the skill set necessary to take advantage of most aspects of transformation. Conventional wisdom is wrong.
During the pandemic, strategic planning was thrown out the window for many businesses, particularly the 92% of the USA economy comprised of the smallest businesses, in favor of survival. Many, however, used tactical changes to create a strategic advantage for the future, and digital transformation was one of the most effective methods of keeping and enhancing competitiveness in the face of economic tragedy.
An example case is a case of my family business, MAK, a 30-year-old martial arts business in Massachusetts. MAK lost 66% of its income during the first 120 days of the pandemic. To face the obvious challenges, they sought the advice of stakeholders and students. As a result, the organization created and enacted a survival plan that had strategic validity as well as addressed the existential threat posed by the pandemic. With the help of stakeholders and extant e-commerce tools, the company presented synchronous and asynchronous classes within a week. In addition, the firm added an online tuition payment system using a vendor (Square) from outside of their industry to avoid bias. All three of these changes were created with an eye to the future and remain features that differentiate MAK from other martial arts schools, fulfilling previously unaddressed flexibility needs.
The entire time, MAK used its purpose statements and its cultural identity to help craft solutions that not only aligned with its character but enhanced its ability to provide beyond its previous standards.
What is Your Culture: MAK’s culture is centered on ‘doing the next right thing’ and providing a framework of integrity, concentration, perseverance, respect, self-control, and indomitable spirit using martial arts to accomplish those ends. The steps MAK used to provide cultural alignment were:
1. Determine your culture through 360-degree evaluations involving your stakeholders.
2. Create a SWOT analysis with the assistance of stakeholders, particularly staff members.
3. Eliminate any results that conflict with the cultural statements from step 1.
4. Prioritized the results of the SWOT analysis into time frames by importance – MAK used immediate, 6 months, and 12 months or longer.
5. Write an action plan.
6. Have stakeholders review the action plan and ask if they wish to help implement it.
7. Recursively implement the plan, repeating the above steps every 3 months.
Do you Know How to SWOT?
SWOT analysis is a basic business tool many micro- and small businesses do not know how to perform. It is, however, ubiquitous. Ask a stakeholder, hire a consultant, or google it.
Have you ever formally considered your culture? Today might be the day.
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