A call to entrepreneurs: 5 ways to avoid obsolescence in the phygital age

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In these times, all of us are looking at challenges of generating business momentum in the present and building for the future. The recovery may take time even if Covid does not reach its fourth wave.

What needs to be done as an entrepreneur?

The world is a blend of the traditional models and digital models and they both coexist. Clients as always are discerning and look for value and we have to define our right to win consistently. However, just as it is a prudent practice to add some black pepper in curd to reduce the chance of a cold especially in turbulent weather, here are some easy-to-implement factors to keep in mind that can have a big impact on business wellbeing.

1. Enhancing data security

Data security is a must in today’s world to ensure effective functioning and look at ways in which disruptions to work technologically can be prevented. This helps to look at things in the right perspective and it makes sure things work well in the longer term.

2. Getting the capital structure right

If the capital structure is not right it will be a problem some time down the road. For instance, the airlines business is capital intensive and apparently the CFO for Vijay Mallya tried to dissuade him to enter this sector. If the capital structure does not take care of the cashflow requirements, it is usually a problem.

3. Doing integrity checks for key hires

Anybody is a key hire as far as a startup or a young company is considered. A complete integrity check, across work experience is a must for anybody above five years of work experience. This is particularly vital for positions where client data is used such as analytics functions for marketing, product development, or anyone having access as a manager to client data.

This is more useful not only for the fintech world but also for the brick-and-mortar businesses like ours which are becoming high tech-high touch businesses. This helps to ensure stability of operations at a company level.

4. Focus on getting cost structures right

Getting the cost structure right is an art in a high tech-high touch business. This is critical for sustainability. We were evaluating a couple of companies in a tech space and found that despite the tech automations the cost structure turned out to be quite high and we let it pass.

5. Think like an investor

If you have done the above four, you don’t need to worry about this. This is the core of it. However, building sustainably is an important angle for investing in any business cycle, for any business model. This thinking helps to keep the company afloat in tough times.

Carpe Diem!

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