When the pandemic hit, many small businesses were forced into an internal state of emergency. Plans were set to ensure the business’ survival which, unfortunately for some, were not enough. For those that did survive, those plans included focusing all the efforts to survive the lockdown through drastic means like laying off employees or going fully remote.
If you are one of the few businesses that have managed to survive the year 2020 and are now facing 2021, then you’ll notice that things have died down a little. This gives you some room to breathe. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can relax.
Now is the time to reorganize to ensure your business remains afloat to achieve even greater success. This includes understanding brand-new business terminologies that can impact your new policies, which are the following:
1. D&I (Diversity & Inclusion)
Companies are required to refrain from discriminating against individuals based on religion, sex, race, and other things. However, some companies go around this by not actively looking for specific individuals with said characteristics—this is where D&I comes in.
Short for diversity and inclusion, D&I makes companies more proactive in including different people. This means that rather than sit back and wait for talents to show up, the company actively seeks applications and employs people with different categories of identity.
Note that D&I doesn’t only fall onto employment. It also applies to suppliers and marketing, where diversity is embraced in all shapes and forms. Keep in mind that small businesses aren’t subjected to D&I. However, it is still good to consider diversifying the workforce to meet D&I, if not for its benefits.
2. ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance)
ESG stands for environmental, social, and corporate governance. ESG focuses on things like sustainability and the impact a company can have on society. If this sounds like something that will affect a business’s reputation, it is—ESG helps companies standardize business to maximize reputation to attract customers, clients, and even investors.
With that in mind, there are a few ways ESG applies well to small businesses. Through ESG, for instance, one can show their commitment to reducing plastic waste by eliminating use where it isn’t needed. This effort can then be showcased on a website to notify everyone of the company’s effort to make this world a better place.
3. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
Businesses big and small have routines that have to be tackled daily. While many of these activities are simple, the time and effort used to tackle these routines can become costly as time passes. With the stress of the pandemic, these routines may get the short end of the stick, leaving some tasks undone and others performed poorly.
With ERP, this problem can be solved. Short for enterprise resource planning, ERP can provide companies with a collection of business application tools to complete these daily routines quickly and easily.
ERP is capable of handling invoicing to monitor cash flows, making it an important investment for businesses. Such tools mean less time tackling daily routines and more time focused on other critical activities.
Conclusion
Whether you’ve heard these terminologies before or not, they remain relevant to your activities. While things like D&I may not impact your business as much, other things like ERP can greatly affect how you run your company for the better. Consider applying what’s relevant to your activities. This way, not only can you keep your business with the latest trends and changes, but ensure your business has the best chances of surviving the pandemic. Hopefully, you’ll also thrive in the face of every danger beyond it.
New Business Centre assists new businesses in navigating highly competitive markets to achieve success. If you are looking for small business startup training services, get in touch with us today!
