Top 6 Business Sustainability Strategies and Solutions

Anyone could start a business, but it is tough to make it sustainable and extend it to generation.

Nowadays, sustainability does not only count in the growth of the business but also how much you are making the environment safe for everyone. It is crucial to keep all the factors in mind and follow sustainable strategies. A sustainable business can run for more than a century with its product quality and customers' trust.

But with the flow of time brings more challenges from time to time in a business. The customers need changes, but the technology of production, smooth distribution, marketing plans and fast supplies deliver considerable changes in the sustainability of a business. You can not predict unexpected losses or calculate risks but can make your business strong enough to sustain any difficulties.  

You can make some good strategies to support your business for a very long time. Let us discuss the top business sustainability strategies and solutions in the following points below:

1. Understand your Business

It is the foremost strategy for long-living businesses. Acknowledge every aspect of business, starting from managing day to day operations to staff efficiency and fast market supplies. Look into everything in detail, not just as an owner but how you will manage your own life. Study the current business models that inspire you and are relatable to your business pattern. Then make some sustainable development goals based on your research. Define the fine lines of improvements or the techniques which are outdated.

Gather experience by applying small practical methods which can bring growth to your business. If you have any family business, learn from family members’ knowledge and experience and add new technology to automation. Understanding your business can help to do brilliant work instead of unnecessary hard work. You can read about the leading brands and companies in the market for centuries and still raise profits today. Take notes and modify them according to your work style.

2. Understand KYC

It is the immediate prospect for which you are running your enterprise. Whether it is a small or large business or startups that have now formed big companies, the ever-important part of the business is the customer or consumer. That’s why the term KYC- Know Your Customer came into existence.

Without understanding the customer, you can not sustain your business. The ever-changing needs and ever-increasing demand for products by the customer is the beauty of the industry. The more you know the customer, the more you will change business tactics and grab a position in the high competition market.

Analyse your companion companies, how they make changes in the manufacturing of products, or the comfortable and quick service to customers, and how they engage with them to become their favourite. Identify the customer's tastes and choices in the products they use. Think like a customer, what do you want in a product or service and how you feel after using it, then apply ideas accordingly. It is the best strategy for business sustainability and growth.

3. Digitisation

It is not up to a fast lifestyle needs but also for quick management of your business. It is the core stability method in the coming decades. If you do not provide online bookings and digital payments options to your customer, your business can’t survive. You can learn it from a Paan shop owner, even though they have added digital technology to their business type. As for large scale businesses or startups, you should install automation tools, new machinery, high-tech computers and affordable cameras.

The current pandemic situation unleashed the power of technology in the business world. It is the only survival tool in the present business condition. You can bring your website or app and make it for customers to place orders or customer support. It facilitates better control of the business and running your commercial activities while the pandemic continues in the background. Bring these digital solutions to your work pattern to ease the functioning and administration of the company.

4. Simplified Accounting System

Gone are the days when accounting records were written in paper documents as Bahi-khata. Business accounting standards have been changing every year. The most useful sustainable strategy is to use simple, paperless, and secure methods of accounting. You should get online solutions for rigid accounting systems and leave the outdated ones. Start by using the best and stress relieving digital technology of online accounting methods.

You can manage your accounts online to simplify the collection process in business through timely reminders through WhatsApp or SMS, online payments and record statements. You can do it through OkCredit, a digital Udhar Bahi-Khata and keep track of all your receivables and payables. It ensures online backup of data with 100% safety and security, suitable for all businesses like medical stores, grocery, chai and juice centres, garment shops, wholesalers, and even fruit sellers.

5. Implement Green Policies

It is the most overlooked factor in terms of sustainability. Everything has a cost in business, from managing waste to applying green and environment-friendly strategies. Right now, it's the global trend to have a structured waste management process and use green policy to make a work environment free of pollution. Many leading companies have been successful in bringing up these policies and created an enticing place to work.

People get influenced by your innovative product, how cost-effective the process you use, product health, and how you are taking steps to keep it eco-friendly. You can see how many companies use defined packaging, which is easy to dispose of and even can be recycled further to decrease wastage. Take the ideas from the leading brands and come up with your solutions and ways to sustain an eco-friendly environment.

6. Stable Workforce

You hire numerous staff members to perform business activities. It takes a few years to get a stable, efficient staff for your business. But for its sustainability, you will need a stable workforce on which you can trust and make futuristic creative plans for the company. Well organised human resources can take you to the top of the market with enough balance to sustain. The above strategies can attract potential staff members to your company.

Give them better training and a sense of security, for which they will add all of their hard work to your sustainability of the business. Deal with staff politely and create a bond of trust to hire them till the lifetime of your business. But do not take robust decisions like not appointing new staff. Gather new talents and young people for some different ways in the functioning of a business. Old or new, a stable workforce is vital for holding the market for countless years.

Conclusion

It is essential to step ahead of time and include or exclude suitable policies for your business. The above points explain how you can make your business sustainable. Learn from the latest market trends, technologies used, and customer preferences. Companies can survive only when the change is constant in daily operation and dealing with the customers.

Leave the obsolete ideas of running the business and step into a new world with updated ideas. It will help you to understand your end-user better and in building future business approaches.  

Also read:

1) How small business promotes industrialisation?
2) Impact of Lockdown on Indian Economy
3) GST: Is this a benefit to the Economy?
4) How funding boosts Startups to redefine Indian Economy?
5) OkCredit: Simple, Paperless & Secure solution for businesses

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FAQs

Q. How to check the sustainability of a business?

Ans. There are three criteria on which you can check the sustainability of your business: economic, environmental and social. Examine your business model according to these criteria and know if it fulfils your business goals and targets. And it did not perform well, then apply the above tips to make it sustainable in the meantime.

Q. Is it safe to switch to an online accounting method?

Ans. Yes, it is very safe not just for you and but for the environment by not wasting any paper on it. You can use secure apps like OkCredit to record your accounting data online. It is easy to use, and you can access it anytime, anywhere. It also saves trees due to no paper consumption.

Q. Do customers prefer recyclable packaging of products?

Ans. People are very concerned about saving themselves and the environment from unsafe and harsh plastic packaging of products. As it also affects the customers’ health. That’s why customers better recognise companies who have safe, recyclable packaging and love buying their products again and again.

Q. Do the above strategies apply to every type of business?

Ans. The above solutions can vary in case of different business patterns, but you can apply strategies as per the size and type of business you have.