As you get back into work post lockdown and focus on catching up lost ground, I would encourage you not to just go back to the day-to-day mentality and assume that things will continue as they currently are. With a potentially severe recession ahead, just continuing to do the types of things you have been doing around business strategy could mean you become dragged down by the negative market forces.
In the chart above there are generally three future scenarios that could play out for you, determined largely by the type of actions that you take now and over the next few months. I have put down a future time line to measure possible results of 18 months. It’s a bit arbitrary on my part and you may feel the measuring post should sit at 12 months, or something else. In the end it’s not critical where we put the line; what is important is to look at the pathway towards it and which one do you want to be on.
Red pathway.
This is the pathway you could well follow if you choose to do nothing about your business strategies and let the future take care of itself. For some business owners who are newer to the game, you may have not experienced tough economic times and so do not really know what to do. If that is the case for you, I strongly advise you to put your hand up and ask for help. You may note that the line doesn’t even make the 18 month mark. This is because a business that does nothing may well not survive. You don’t want to be on that line.
Orange pathway.
This is the pathway if you do something, but in a random and hit-and-miss fashion. You will have some wins and some failures and hope to keep your head above water. This is obviously better than doing nothing, but the general market forces will tend to keep dragging you down. I heard someone say the other day (I’m sorry I can’t remember who it was), “in a recession, doing just something is the new nothing”.
Green pathway.
This is where you have a clear strategy and can align your actions more logically, thus building upon what has gone before. It depends on what your business is, but generally you may find it takes a while to gain traction. Once it does however, you will start to see an upward trend and you will be much better placed to come out of the recession on a growth path. The opportunity will be there to review multiple parts of your business, trim excess fat, refine and focus your marketing, revisit your perceived competitive advantage and become a much stronger operation.
Contact me HERE to book a strategic review of your business and put a plan in place to get on the green line to success.