As a recipient of the Commonwealth Scholarship, I was very privileged to have been invited to speak in the CSC Commonwealth alumni round table discussion which focused on Doing Business In A Global Pandemic And Beyond: Lessons On Resilience. This was my very fist time meeting the incredible alumni teams from the commonwealth scholarships. A truly rich and sharp group of people right from the judges, justice, entrepreneurs, youth leaders at national level and medical entrepreneurs like myself. It’s safe to say that indeed this scholarship gathers the brightest of minds. Anyways, more than that I was so inspired by the insights that were shared by the panel and the discussions that followed thereafter on doing business in a global pandemic and here are 5 things that I learnt from this session that you could immediately apply to your business to make it better especially during these tough times.
- All businesses must integrate elements of technology to streamline operation and to deliver their services efficiently. As a business part of future proofing is leveraging technology to enhance efficiency of service delivery. Whilst not all elements of a business can rely on technology ensure to identify those that can and atomate them or streamline them through technology.
- Marketing and especially online marketing is a big part of building and running a business during a pandemic. Owing to the fact that more and more people now access their information online, as a business you have to find ways to get online as well and conduct your business online where you can reach your market. Marketing can make or break your business. If you don’t market your business online, you lose.
- Cyber security and making you online operations secure is something that should be considered in your strategy to integrate tech in your business. With the rise of online business and integration of technology to business, there has been a significant rise in cyber-crimes. Therefore, as a business owner, do not neglect components to ensure that your business is secure even as you integrate technology into it.
- While you sleep, others are innovating. Take advantage of this time to think of new innovations that you could apply to make your business better. This is not necessarily to mean that you will invent the next Alibaba … and you might, rather it means finding better ways to make your business operate and coming up with new products for the market.
- Partnerships. No business runs on its own, all businesses need partnerships. Therefore, its important that we get more people to partner with us in our businesses this way we are able to leverage each other’s strengths and support each other to reach new markets and new customers. Do not fear partnerships, embrace them.
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STEPHEN OGWENO 