Innovation is one of the biggest growth factors of any industry. This has been proven by the continuous growth of every sector since the first Industrial Revolution. However, despite this fact, some business practices or strategies have withstood the test of time. These practices have been tried and tested for decades and won’t likely fade in the next few years.
For any entrepreneur, such strategies are worth studying so that they can be used as much as possible. This article is a compilation of traditional business practices that are still worth checking out.
- Packaging and Labeling
Packaging materials have improved throughout the years, but the concept behind packaging has transcended different fads in the manufacturing landscape. Packaging has moved from plastic to recycled materials!
Labeling has actually become a lot modern through the years. These days, a few entrepreneurs still prefer hand-painted labels for their products, but, of course, technology has allowed for more creative and permanent labeling through innovative B2C companies like Wunderlabel.
- Business Insurance
Business insurance will never go out of style because protection is important. This is essential, now more than ever before, since a lot of businesses had to shut down because of the pandemic. So even if you are not in a risky industry, like construction, your employees, property, and entire business need insurance to avoid unwanted and accidental costs that will force you to file for bankruptcy. Even small businesses need this kind of protection because we can never tell when an accident could happen. And, of course, as business owners, we have some sort of liability in case anything goes wrong.
- Cold-Calling
Cold calling is the practice of contacting an individual who has never expressed any interest in a certain product. This may be a customer who has tried a competitor brand or someone who has never heard of your product at all. Back then, cold calling was in the form of salesmen going house to house to offer products to people.
Then there was telemarketing, where salesmen opened up phone books and dialed each household listed to offer their products. Now, we have social media or an email list that offers sponsored ads to people that may be interested in a product. Even if there are more modern ways of advertising, cold calling is still practiced today. And in the future, it might be done through another shape or form.
- Sanitation and Quality Control
Just like having insurance, the business practices of sanitation and quality control have been emphasized in 2020 due to the prevalence of the coronavirus pandemic. Companies need to ramp up their cleanliness, safety, and quality standards to attract customers to do business with them.
Alcohol and sanitizers have become readily available to incoming guests. There are even temperature checkpoints in some establishments, too. Even if this is a drastic shift in operations, proper cleanliness and quality standards have been a part of every good business from the very beginning.
- Eco-Friendly Manufacturing
The first products sold to men were, of course, entirely eco-friendly because most of the products in the market were basically just food and naturally-sourced clothing. So the concept of sustainability in business isn’t really an innovation. It just needs to come back to the mainstream and have more businesses apply this noble strategy.
Fortunately, many companies are now applying a more sustainable approach to their operations, specifically in the manufacturing sector. So I’m pretty sure that while some corporations would be ignorant of sustainability practices, there are still others that would choose to open an eco-friendly business venture.
The list above is just some of the traditional business practices that will not be lost to the world. Changes in tradition, trends, and consumption behaviors are inevitable. But these practices have proven that they are needed by society to make businesses not only successful and profitable, but also more socially-responsible to the rest of humanity and to the entire planet.