How the enterprises should acculturate with the trending On-Demand economy

The only thing which never changes is change. Yes, change is all around. Even a brief look at the history of business shows how technology has shifted the way we do business, and technology is at the heart of this major new direction.

A major spinoff in the use of technology is the advantage that smaller businesses, especially startups, have over longstanding and well-established enterprises. Because the on-demand economy is challenging, and will soon dominate the way we do business, being big can now be seen as being bulky as opposed to being powerful. Smaller companies can change almost overnight. Not so large enterprises.

The experts predict massive change

The Pew Research Centre in Washington DC tells us that almost 75% of Americans have used on-demand services for some business transaction. The Gartner Symposium, arguably the world’s largest and most influential gathering of IT executives and CIOs, believe that about 30% of current jobs will soon be performed, not be able to be performed but performed by devices, software or machines – by anything other than a human.

It’s not easy being big

The problem for some (read many) well-established and currently successful corporations is that, like a massive ship, you can’t turn on a sixpence (5p). There are structural changes required. Many huge companies have separate parts of their business which will need to be linked. This won’t happen overnight.

The customer is always right

The main driving force in moving to a technology-based on-demand economy is the customer. That adage about the customer being right has stood the test of time. It is more relevant today than ever before. Customers don’t want; they demand on-demand goods and services. Unless providers adapt to these demands, they will wither and die.

Heads in sand spell disaster

Perhaps the biggest mistake executives and decision-makers can make to ignore the trend. Because their enterprise has grown and possibly grown well over decades (centuries?) counts for little. The times they are a’changing, and survival may well depend on the ability of a current enterprise to adapt, to change, to go where the people are demanding they go. That is, move to an on-demand economy.

Everything changes

It’s not just the way you do business using the latest technology that counts. It’s the staff you employ, the training they receive, the equipment (hugely important) you purchase, and the approach or attitude you adopt. This is a major business makeover. This is a massive sea change for enterprise businesses.

How to catch the bus

What can enterprises do to ensure they safely and quickly make the switch to an on-demand economy? Many things including understanding the problem and being willing to adapt. But one factor is communication. The days of telephone and email only are gone already. Websites, apps, social media and even AI are all important and simple ways to make the customer experience better.

Getting traffic to your business is key. Getting that traffic to become a customer is more important. Getting that customer to become a loyal and repeat customer is more important again. Communication which is effortless and efficient and effective will help turn your enterprise business into an on-demand business.