Now is the time to invest in the future of your business

We are entering very tough economic times; 2009 will possibly be the toughest year for British businesses since the 1930’s.

To survive in these conditions, it is increasingly important for businesses to be strong, fit and innovative. Recently, the government has announced a series of packages to encourage both the consumer and businesses to return to their normal spending profiles. Businesses must respond by investing in their future. The government also announced additional funding to stimulate British businesses, especially in the hard hit construction sector, by bringing forward their own construction based projects.

Times are hard and I am sure a considerable number of businesses are considering restructuring and cut backs in spending, including an investment freeze policy. This is potentially a high risk strategy as the reality could be that without investment your business becomes uncompetitive and potentially not fit enough or strong enough to survive in 2009.

Cost-saving strategies are equally important, as a relaxed approach to running our businesses will not work in the current economic climate; good business discipline is a necessity. It is important to ensure that your employee’s are delivering 100% and are focussed on their jobs and where necessary give extra training to maximise the effectiveness of your workforce and, if necessary, re-structuring to maximise performance and efficiency.

Key investment in solutions which deliver significant business benefits and an immediate return on expenditure must be considered. These investments must be made in order to survive the next 18 months of the global financial crisis.

This strategy was proven in the Asian Financial crisis of 1997, when Donald Tsang (the then Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, now the Chief Executive) implemented a public spend programme to stimulate business. Mr Tsang has recently met with Gordon Brown and other G20 leaders to encourage them to adopt this proven method.

We must all strive to be the best at what we do and ALL businesses could do better and more importantly must do better. After all, if you were given a warning that a hurricane was heading your way and you had time to build a shelter, you would not just hide under your table.

A good example of how businesses with mobile fieldworkers can invest in innovation, that brings a significant and immediate return on investment, is through the deployment of Enterprise Mobility Solutions. TBS conducted a survey amongst the businesses who attended Mobilise Your Workforce (November 2008) which revealed a potential £155 million* in financial savings per year for the businesses who had not deployed an Enterprise Mobility Solution. This is an indication of possible savings in just one small presentation suite - imagine what we could save throughout the UK!

*The survey was based upon a conservative 15% improvement in productivity in deploying an Enterprise Mobility solution to businesses with field based workforces. Enterprise Mobility Solutions normally deliver in the region of 25 to 50%.. The survey canvassed businesses that had not deployed a mobile solution and asked a set of baseline questions including the number of field workers and the financial costs associated in completing a single job.