Future-proofing your business is essential for you to establish a company that is capable of long-term success spanning many generations. This is often the goal of many entrepreneurs and business owners who start up a venture with the dream of one day being able to pass it on to their children or grandchildren.
By future-proofing your business, you put things into place that will anticipate future happenings and developments, helping to reduce potential stresses on and damages to your enterprise, therefore enabling it to survive far into the distance.
Thinking far into the future about the possible scenarios that may occur, some of their scenarios that you might not want to think about on a daily basis isn’t the easiest of things. The present-day often brings enough challenges as it is – both on a personal note and a business level, so some prefer not to think about the future too much at all.
However, not thinking about the future doesn’t make it go away. In fact, it makes matters worse because you are letting things build up which will eventually come to a head, probably to the detriment of your business. Get ahead of the game. Future-proofing should be thought of as a positive process to give confidence and security for a future of success.
Before you start thinking about your future, it’s always a good idea to think about where your business has come from; this will give you an insight into the values that you hold true and will help you to think clearly about the way forward based on a strong foundation.
Ways to Future-Proof Your Business
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Succession Planning
The most direct way of future-proofing is to create a formal succession plan. Putting formalities into place means that your business can continue smoothly when it’s your time to take a step down as part of a planned move or if something rather unexpected happens. It’s fair to say that succession planning isn’t a 10-minute job, but it is important to get the ball rolling, talk to the necessary people involved and get the professional advice you require.
Professional help will make the process much easier to handle, create legally viable plans and will also help from a tax planning perspective.
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Build a team you can trust
You can’t do this all on your own. One of the keys to business longevity is to bring in the right people and the right skills to make you and your business stronger. Make sure you surround yourself with those who can give you solid advice – both from a personal and professional point of view. Receiving advice early is a sure-fire way to help you prosper going forward.
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Investing
Investing can span a number of commercial areas: investing in employees, customers and your product or service. The above point about building a team you trust is investing in employees to be the face of your business and direct it in the way you want. It is also important to invest in your customers; promote loyalty and build a solid base. Listen to your customers and treat them well, this in turn will help to spread your good name via word of mouth, which is still perhaps the most trusted form of marketing.
Looking after Family Businesses at Gorvins Solicitors
Here at Gorvins, we have a wealth of experience in dealing with family businesses and specifically helping them to plan for the future by making succession plans and business wills. Our expert Family Business team will be able to advise and guide you as you plan to future-proof your business life so that rewards can be reaped by the generations to come.
Call us on 0161 930 5151 or email our team at familybusinessteam@gorvins.com and we will be in contact with you.