3 Habits to Change in the New Year to Future-Proof Your Business

We often use the New Year to mark the new beginnings, change what we do or how we do it and try to get ready for the future. The reality shows that good old business strategies that have worked for decades are no longer relevant in the ever-changing and chaotic present. And even less so in the unpredictable future. It is the time to discover new, better, simpler and faster ways to run your business and make customers happy — it is time to change.

In 2013 Bill Sharpe of the International Futures Forum published a book about Three Horizons, a framework of thinking about the future. The concept of three horizons does not refer to the short, medium and long term but to three different ways of behaving towards the future.

• Horizon One refers to the business as usual where we expect our reality not to change. So we plan on doing what we are doing and getting what we are getting.
• Horizon Three is the vision of the far future that we don’t have evidence of. But there are subtle signs in the present that might signal us what future will emerge.
• Horizon Two is where they come together. Here you anticipate what changes might come from the far future and try to be part of that shift. You choose what to invest your resources and give it a go.

Each horizon is a lens through which we look at our business and new ideas. So ideally we need to keep an eye on all three of them at the same time. However, the majority of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs focus mainly on Horizon One — keep the system running. The downside here is that being stuck selling what you sell has an expiration date. For example, when a more successful competitor comes who appeals stronger to your customers. Refusing to discover and explore high-risk ideas leaves you fragile to the changes that will come.

Here are three business habits that can help you recognize that you are stuck in the present…

Please continue reading in the original publication on Entrepreneur.com

Copyright 2020 by Entrepreneur Media, Inc. All rights reserved.