The keys to long-term success in business

After ringing in the New Year, many of us start evaluating our future plans. And while in business you should always have your eye on what’s ahead, this is a great time to see if you can take steps to futureproof your company.

Habits of the healthiest

IMD professors looked at businesses’ longevity, investigating 50 global companies that have stayed among the most 50 valuable traded companies over a period of 50 years. Three key factors stood out among companies that had stood the test of time; read them here.

See your success as attainable

It can be useful to visualize what you want for the future of your business, but that doesn’t mean donning a pair of rose-colored glasses. Research has shown that people who use the current situation for future planning tend to be overly optimistic. Instead, to help us think a little bit differently it’s better to start in the future, in the unknown, and work backwards. This exercise can help you practice this technique, employed by many successful leaders.

Predict disruptions and adapt quickly

One of the critical factors in staying ahead of your competition is being able to identify key shifts in your industry as quickly as possible. There are signs you can look for that will signal if changes are underway in your sector that you may have missed. Learn them here.

Ask the right questions

The pandemic has exposed which companies were future-ready, or at least agile enough to change with lightning speed when the landscape shifted. Their readiness was clearly reflected in superior performance compared with their peers. To test if you are doing the right things to be future-ready, you should look at these questions.