Are Today’s Businesses Built for a World That No Longer Exists?

Imagine you had to explain to someone who has just woken up from a ten-year coma what is happening in the world.

Donald Trump talks about taking over Greenland. Lockdowns during a global pandemic shut down entire economies. Wars reshape global politics and trade routes. Energy prices can change dramatically within days. The world’s largest economic powers introduce tariffs and trade restrictions against each other. Artificial intelligence and new technologies rapidly reshape everyday reality.

And all of this is happening almost at the same time.

What may look like disconnected events increasingly creates one shared reality: the conditions under which businesses operate are changing faster than many organisations were ever designed for.

For many business owners, this creates a difficult situation. Day-to-day operations still demand constant attention: managing customers, employees, costs, projects and cash flow. But at the same time, the environment around the business is changing faster than many organisations were originally designed for.

This is not a short-term disruption. It is a deeper structural change affecting how businesses operate, compete and create value.

Why Is This Happening?

Several major forces are driving this transformation simultaneously. Let me, talk about a few.

AI in SMEs: advantages and disadvantages.

Artificial intelligence is already changing how businesses access and use knowledge. You may say: “Witold, everybody knows AI is here. We constantly hear about large companies reducing workforces because they use AI.” But this is not only a big corporate story. It directly affects SMEs as well.

Imagine you run a small graphic design studio. Part of your income comes from smaller projects: infographics, posters, presentations or marketing materials. But suddenly, some of these projects start disappearing. Why? Because many customers can now use AI tools to create part of this work themselves in a matter of minutes.

Are the AI-generated materials better than the work of a professional designer? Most likely not. But for many customers, they are simply “good enough”. Cheap, fast and immediately accessible.

And that is where the real business question begins. How many small projects can disappear before you, as the studio owner, start feeling the impact on the business?

And graphic design is only one example. Similar pressures may increasingly affect solicitors, accountants, business consultants, coaches, marketing agencies and many other businesses built around knowledge, expertise and professional services.

Again, this does not mean these professions disappear. It also does not mean AI can fully replace experienced professionals. But it may significantly change what customers are willing to pay for, how often they seek external support and what they expect to receive.

Some businesses will use these technologies to become faster and more competitive. Others may slowly discover that parts of the value they offered are now becoming cheaper and easier to access elsewhere.

And this is exactly why many SMEs may need to start questioning not only how they operate, but whether the logic behind the business still fits the reality that is emerging.

Robots in SMEs

Robotics and automation are also becoming much more real for SMEs than many business owners still think. Many people still imagine robots as something connected only to massive factories owned by global corporations. But the technology is moving quickly into more everyday business environments.

Imagine you run a warehouse or logistics business. For years, your operations depended mainly on people doing repetitive physical tasks. Then competitors begin introducing humanoid robots solutions that can work longer hours, make fewer mistakes and operate at lower long-term costs (Does this still sound like science fiction? I recently shared a LinkedIn post about exactly this topic - and the speed of development may surprise you. Feel free to have a look and join the discussion.).

At first, the difference may not look dramatic. But over time, their costs fall, their speed improves and their operational capacity grows.

How long can your business compete if the market itself starts operating under completely different cost structures?

Sustainability & SMEs

Sustainability is also changing from a “nice to have” topic into something much more practical and commercial. Many SMEs still think about sustainability mainly in terms of branding, marketing or corporate responsibility reports.

But increasingly, it affects whether businesses can access contracts, partnerships or investment at all.

Imagine you run a smaller manufacturing or supply business. Your product is good, your prices are competitive and your customer relationships are strong. But larger organisations increasingly ask for emissions data, sustainability reporting or proof of environmental standards before they even begin cooperation.

Suddenly, the characteristics of the product itself may no longer be enough.

And for many SMEs, that changes the rules of competition completely.

Geopolitics and it’s impact for SMEs

Geopolitical instability is also becoming much more real for SMEs than many business owners expected. For years, geopolitics was something mainly discussed by politicians, governments or large international corporations. Today, changes in the global political order increasingly affect everyday business reality as well.

Wars can rapidly increase energy and raw material prices. Governments focusing more on military spending may reduce investment in other areas of the economy. Trade wars and tariffs can suddenly make international sales more expensive and unpredictable. Disruptions in global shipping routes can delay deliveries for weeks. Sanctions can cut businesses off from suppliers or markets almost overnight.

You may think your company is not directly connected to global politics.

But whether through rising costs, weaker demand, delayed investments or supply chain disruptions - sooner or later, these changes will hit your business as well.

What this changes mean to SMEs?

This is similar to what we already see with AI. Some businesses will slowly lose relevance because the value they offer becomes cheaper, faster or more accessible elsewhere. Others will use these same technologies to redesign how they operate, serve customers and create value.

What becomes a threat for some businesses may become a major opportunity for others.

Accepting that the world is changing is no longer optional. The conditions under which many SMEs were originally built have already changed. Businesses able to continuously reinvent how they create value will have a much higher chance not only to survive, but also to grow through this period of change.

How to answer?

A business model should no longer be treated as something designed once, while the owner focuses mainly on sales, delivery and day-to-day operations for the next twenty years.

In rapidly changing environments, businesses may need to continuously rethink how they create value, who they serve, what customers are willing to pay for and which parts of the model are slowly losing relevance.

Thankfully, over the years we developed Business Design approaches which provide practical ways to deal with exactly this kind of situation.

Instead of assuming management already knows the right direction, organisations may need to treat strategic decisions as assumptions which should first be tested in reality. New offerings, pricing models, customer groups or ways of delivering value can be explored through smaller, quicker experiments before businesses commit significant time, money or resources.

The purpose is not experimentation for the sake of experimentation.

The purpose is learning.

Businesses able to learn faster from customers, markets and evidence are usually much better prepared for change than organisations relying mainly on routines, assumptions or past success.

Witold Wisniewski

Better Organisations

LinkedIn

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Saltire Sentinel’s editorial stance.