Ian Ault, MD of DTB, discusses how the rules of business have changed post-pandemic and how to adapt
Ian Ault
Corporate social responsibility. Environmental social governance. Digital transformation. Factory of the future. Carbon reduction. Lean working. Staff engagement. Mentoring. Digital growth grants. Graduate placements. CRM. Customer journey. API. EDI. UI. UX. KPI. Chamber of Commerce. Rewards. Innovate UK. Profit. Circular economy. Frictionless commerce. End-to-end mapping. Change management, resilience, pivoting, contingency planning, disaster recovery… The list goes on. And on. And on…
Recognise a few of these? Not all of them? Want to implement some? Are you confused and overwhelmed?
Missing pieces
Don’t panic. The truth is that you are probably already doing some or all of the above, but perhaps not in a “recognised” or, at times, repeatable or profitable way. The reason I am writing this is because Images asked me to share my experience.
At DTB, we found that after the pandemic the rules had changed. We had dismantled the business and put the pieces in a box to ride out the storm – and when we came to take them out and put them back together we realised some pieces were missing and others no longer fitted where they used to.
Our ambitions remained the same, but now we were operating under different terms. The back end of 2021 and most of 2022 were spent investigating and addressing all the above and much more. We have learnt along the way and are now realising the benefits of our actions. We can measure the results in staff engagement and progression.
“We found that after the pandemic, the rules had changed”
Achieving your goals
We have the ownership and responsibility to deliver the sort of results – and ultimately profit – that give us the confidence to repeat the cycle with added innovations and an aim to continually “do it better”.
Over the course of this three-part series, I will aim to simplify, debunk and share our knowledge in the hope it will expedite your journey to achieving your goals in whatever category they may fall in. I am definitely not a business or industry expert and will never claim to be. However, I am a (passionate) owner-operator who wants to make a difference, and I am happy to share our real-world wins, failures and on-going challenges with you in an honest and unfiltered way.
Ian Ault is the MD of DTB, which supplies and decorates textile products. It includes TranSmart, and has a European presence with DTBeu. DTB’s mission statement is “Fairness and Partnerships”.
www.dtbeurope.com
