Has Covid-19 ruined my business plans and what can I do now?

I wrote last week about the need for all businesses to keep focusing on and reviewing their plans to deliver Profitable Revenue Growth :

(https://www.clivedenhouseconsulting.co.uk/post/profitable-revenue-growth).

And based upon where we currently are in this lock-down (early May 2020) quite rightly a large percentage of the many questions I received from this, were from SME Business Owners and Directors asking me about how accurate and relevant their pre Covid-19 strategies and plans will still be after we move into the next phase, and what the ‘new normal’ will look like ?

And the simple answer is that at this stage no-one knows what the future will hold! And that as statement of fact is a pretty worrying place for us all to be; as uncertainty is not known to be anything other than bad for business growth. So if we do not know what is coming (and we don't) then it is almost impossible to say if any companies business plans (as of today and anywhere in the world) are still 'fit for purpose'. But even knowing that the future is unclear to all - standing still and waiting to see what happens before making a plan, is most definitely the wrong strategy (and I am not even sure that I would call this a strategy!)

For me, a better question would be ‘is my business set up to deal with whatever happens next?’

Now, I cannot think of any successful business leader or entrepreneur who will not be demanding to review their plans and their state of readiness for whatever comes! But – how does the SME/Corporate start this process, as there are so many unknowns still out there? In order to help with that that, I have come up with just a few initial key areas (bearing in mind we are currently in mid lock-down) that I believe all business leaders and owners should immediately be looking at to prepare themselves:

1) Review your markets and specifically understand which of these have been impacted by recent events and how - what do their expected plans now look like and how does this impact you? 2) Put in place new Short-Term targets across key business functions – and have a regular review processes in place to ensure these are being actioned and delivered upon 3) Look at how you can amend your offering to deliver value and help to your customers or even explore options for selling to new customers in this period 4) Plan for potential 2nd and 3rd wave of Covid-19 and how you would cope if these were to happen? 5) Review what you have learnt in this period to identify the weaknesses and opportunities in your structure, process and workforce 6) Analyse where you are too reliant upon one or a few customers, markets or sectors – use this time to understand this and how you can start to spread your business and reduce the risk 7) What investments, recruitments and plans did you have in your 2020 strategic plan – can you go forward with these or do you need to find a new, different or more cost-effective solution now? 8) Do you want to stabilise/survive in the 2nd half of 2020 or do you want to take the aggressive route and take advantage of this situation by growing and taking market share from your competitors – if so, plan now and get everything lined up 9) Have a rolling short-term cash flow forecast because as we all know, liquidity is king! So, in summary – we don’t know what we don’t know (sorry, no crystal ball here) but, there is one thing we do know:

"Change is here and the only way your business will have any chance to succeed is to review and re-evaluate your plans, structures and even maybe your business model. Those that do this have a chance, those that don’t won’t!"

For any independent help or support in this area or anything else you may want to discuss, then please do give me a shout at julianpatel@clivedenhouseconsulting.co.uk. I have a passion for helping businesses and Owners/Directors succeed and to grow. I can be a ‘fresh pair of eyes’ on your business and processes and together we can refresh and energise your business, your teams and your finances as we move out of lock-down into whatever the future may bring. Good luck everyone and please stay safe…..

The above is a not a definitive list of questions/actions, but instead a selected few key areas to start the thought process, for a more complete list then please contact me directly. There are also many other key areas that businesses should be focused upon right now during this lock-down period. However, I wouldn’t be able to give them the attention or detail that they deserve if I had included within this business planning segment, but please do contact me if you need any advice, support or have any questions on the following : Sales Coaching, HR, Legal issues, Employee Communications, Remote Working, Online training,

Video conferencing, IT security, Business loans, R&D Tax credits, Cash flow, Health & Safety, Supplier Management or Change Management.