A collaborative article from the Strategy Road Swarm of Professional Service Providers, Consultants & Advisors
Will your business be stronger in 6 months?
COVID-19 means some change ahead for every business. Some regular operations, standard processes and routine activities will be altered awhile. Short-term work-arounds will be necessary, and business evolutions and revolutions will appear in concentrated numbers. The priorities for owners and leaders will be keeping everyone healthy, and then keeping the lights on, short and longer term.
In this dynamic, business-as-unusual moment, where “normal work” is temporarily curtailed, what should the responsible, forward-looking business leader invest time in? What opportunities does this altered state afford the prescient, and what should be moved up the priorities list to strengthen and safeguard?
The Strategy Road Swarm – an organic collaboration of 22 professional service providers, consultants and business advisors - offers the following ideas for business leaders to help them and their team make the most of a period of forced interruption. Please note – these ideas and perspectives are offered in a “general guidance” capacity only. Every business and business leader’s circumstances are different, and you should seek specific professional advice tailored to your unique situation.
Troy Forrest, Forrest Workshops & Strategy Road Pty Ltd
Troy is an experienced sales trainer, sales coach, strategic planning consultant and facilitator of planning processes for organisations large & small.
First, have a hard think about what you can and are going to need to sell in the months ahead to maintain a cashflow or meet your financial obligations. That might be a different mix of things to normal, and it might require you to unbundle, bundle or even create new products & services to help you help your clients and keep their pains at bay (in difficult times, “pain removal” is a stronger motivator than “pleasure seeking”). It might also require some different approaches to selling. You have a phone, an email address, a website and social accounts… and you might need to employ them.
Then, in thinking beyond short-term disruption, run a close eye over the data, insights, trends and lessons learned of your last 1 – 3 years of sales efforts. What’s truly paid profitably? What sucked a lot of time (but delivered not much?) What’s heading south (and there are no logical reasons that decline will stem) and what, albeit in early days, is trending north? And in light of that analysis, what’s the mix, the target audience, and the appropriate sequence and investment in sales-related activities that you might start planning and training the team for when the doors re-open?
Michelle Bakjac, Bakjac Consulting
Michelle is an experienced Psychologist, trainer, facilitator and coach, who supports individuals & organisations with wellbeing, resilience and mental toughness.
Use this time to review your WAP – your Wellbeing Action Plan. This is the very time to consider not only your own personal wellbeing, but also the wellbeing of the very valuable people you have working with you and for you.
With 1 in 5 individuals experiencing a mental health issue, there is a unique opportunity for you to maximise the opportunity for your staff to be thriving vs just surviving. According to the CIPD Health and Wellbeing at Work Report 2019, these were the top 3 causes of stress at work – “Workload”, “Management / Leadership Style”, and “Relationships at Work”. Have you got an action plan to minimize the negative issues and maximize the positive experiences? Thriving workplace indicators include things like connectedness, positive culture, recognizing capability (a strengths based approach), leadership and good policy. Reflect on the steps to enhance engagement and wellbeing in your workplace. Remember – Wellbeing is NOT a spectator sport.
Deb Black, Blackforrest Conflict Resolution
Deb is a specialist advisor and facilitator in matters of conflict in the workplace, and works as a facilitator at the Centre for Restorative Justice.
If your staff are required to work from home for a period, a sense of isolation and disconnection has the potential to be a breeding ground for some “dark thoughts” about simmering workplace conflict. It can also be difficult when working from home to maintain the discipline and motivation required to fill the day productively. There are the sudden urgencies of doing those small jobs that have been put off for a while that have been the victims of an “intentional procrastination programme”!
· For some employers, “work from home” raises trust issues around whether people will actually be as productive from home. Will they do what they say they will do?
· Organisations with a culture of performance management will need to consider what flexibility may be afforded employees in that space when you cannot observe behaviour and productivity
· There are some individuals who thrive on the camaraderie and companionship of office engagement and will struggle with isolation – how will you support them?
· Most importantly, how do we ensure that safe return to normal for everyone afterwards (or might there be a new normal in your workplace?)
This is a time for leaders to carefully consider, then communicate clearly with all staff on these kind of matters.
Bevan Roberts, Succession Plus
Bevan is a highly experienced consultant, business owner and public speaker, a specialist family business advisor and business exit planner
“Just the facts, Ma’am. Just the facts.”
‘Dragnet’ was a must-watch TV show in the 50’s that had successfully transitioned from radio. Sgt Joe Friday, played by Jack Webb, in my memory used those lines in every show, either in a witness or suspect interview. Right now, separating facts from opinion and speculation seems to me to be both important and difficult to do. Too much opinion, too much speculation, not enough facts.
For SME and Family Business, the acceptance that there is an increased business vulnerability to the disruptive influences of the current crisis, should lead to an examination of some of the immutable facts about business survival. Cash Flow, Capital Reserves and Liquidity are the engine room.
Whilst no business owner needs a lecture on the subject, without a clear understanding of the break-even analysis and the safety margin that the pre-crisis level of sales revenue has provided, survival, to be in a position where recovery is possible, may not be achievable. Know the facts and act. Intimate, real time knowledge and fearless action will be the key to business survival.
Whilst the duration and depth of the current situation remains unclear, we will survive, rebuild and thrive again.
Just the facts.
Deb Trebilcock, Coalmine Canary
Deb is an experienced graphic designer and marketer, specializing in designing beautiful, functional brand and communication collateral for businesses small and large (print and digital)
Use this time to perform a visual brand audit. Gather up every bit of marketing material you have - from brochures, stationery, advertisements, packaging, signage (take photos), website (take screenshots), social media profiles, marketing emails, email signatures, even stubby holders. Then lay it all out on the table. Literally.
· How well do they look like they belong together? In terms of design, colour, fonts, imagery?
· Try covering up your logo on each; can you still tell they’re promoting the same, single business?
· How well do they fit how you want to portray your business – premium, fast, enviro-friendly, trustworthy, innovative etc?
· How well do you think they would appeal to your target customer – teen boys, business owners, new mums, retirees etc?
· How does your branding look compared to your competitors?
Finally, have a look around your own website. Pretend you have never seen it before. Try searching for something, or better still place an order (if you have an online store) or make an online enquiry. How easy was it? Which parts were frustrating? Now is the perfect time to make a list of things to address.
Tania Cavaiuolo, See Marketing
Tania is an experienced marketing and communication specialist who, in addition to supporting diverse clients with strategic and tactical brand & messaging support, spent 6 weeks running a business from home with a broken leg
Having learned a thing or two about running a business while laid up with a broken ankle last year, here are a couple of tips to providing continuity of service and surviving if you find yourself in a self-imposed or forced exile.
· Consider a daily log of your experience. If you’re a ‘sharer’ you can keep your brand awareness up by sharing something of your experience along the way. A daily photo or observation you wouldn’t otherwise notice works. It doesn’t have to be work-related. I did some of this when I broke my ankle and I can’t tell you how many people it prompted to contact me and say hello.
· Tackle your ‘one day I must’ list. We’ve all got things we know we need to do that we never get around to. It might be updating our website, sorting out an IT issue or just reviewing our strategic direction. People will expect you to be less accessible even if you’re working through your confinement, so this is a perfect time to tackle something that’s been languishing on your list for a while.
· Engage with your online communities. You might belong to groups on Facebook or LinkedIn that you don’t usually engage with. Make a deliberate effort to be responsive to posts. You can make some great connections and learn valuable new things with just a little effort.
· Look beyond your newsfeed. Not everything your connections post on social media show in your newsfeed. Take an extra step – look up the profile of people you haven’t heard from in a while, see what they’ve been up to and send them a message to say hello. Similarly, check your phone contacts too and send texts.
Deb Purvis, Robinson Sewell Purvis
Deb is a specialist in agricultural, commercial and corporate finance and credit advisory solutions for SME and family enterprises.
It is clear that the current pandemic is going to impact many businesses financially. Financial markets can be slow to react due to a banking affliction called rear view syndrome. Whilst banks are still lending, review the lines of credit that your business “may” require should an adverse trading or supply event occur over this period. Challenges to accessing funding may arise during the midst of the disruption phase of this timeline. Don’t be afraid to “tell your story” to your lender. Explain how the situation is affecting your current business, but also what the recovery may look like when things get back to normal (understanding that we don’t know how long this will affect our businesses).
Randal Brooks, Results Business Management
Randal is a Chartered Accountant who specialises in helping businesses make productivity improvements and undertake strategic commercial feasibility studies on revenue streams
Make sure that you have a good grasp of how much pain your business can take. This can be achieved through having flexible P&L, Balance Sheet and Cashflow budget/forecast models. Knowing what your future cashflow looks like helps put you in control to go and talk to your lenders if you have too.
If you have spare cash, think about investing in capacity building equipment or skills to put you in a great position when the crisis is over. It could be a great time to buy and the Government has increased the instant asset write-off to $150,000.
Use the experience in your workforce to review your processes and what can be done to make them more efficient and focused on value adds for your customers.
Mike Chalmers, Buyologists
Mike is an expert negotiator and specialist in helping organisations small and large save money on their overhead costs and major purchases
When times are tough, and new customers are hard to come by, then keeping your costs under control becomes more important than ever.
You should start by reviewing all your key costs with a fine tooth comb, especially your overhead costs. Just print a P&L for the last 12 months to identify your significant overhead costs. This may include costs like power, telephones, finance, consumables, freight… the list goes on, and obviously varies a lot according to which industry you are in.
Having identified which are your more significant costs, just print out a copy of a recent invoice for each of those costs – so then you have your account number and all details at your fingertips. Then pick up the phone and call your supplier. Explain you have been a loyal client for many years and asked little/nothing of them, but now times have tightened, so you would appreciate it if they could look at how much they are charging you, and whether they may be able to do better for you.
If they are a supplier you value highly, you don’t need to push too hard obviously. But maybe they are a supplier (like a power company for instance) where all you really care about is the price they charge you. If so, then don’t be scared to mention to them that you’ve heard about lots of very competitive offers from others, so they will need to put their very best foot forward to stop you looking elsewhere.
And why stop with your business suppliers? You can do exactly the same with your home energy costs and other costs like health insurance for instance (trust us, pretty much everything is negotiable in this day and age!) In our experience, you will probably be pretty surprised how easily you make some quite significant savings – and no doubt left thinking why didn’t they offer me this better pricing before?!
The simple answer is.. because you didn’t ask! (But now you have found your voice, right…?!)
Peter Alderson, Shield Insurance Brokers
Peter has over 30 years experience in the insurance and risk industry, and as a broker, supports his personal and business clients with tailored coverage solutions and risk protection packages.
First, some clarity regarding business interruption insurance during this period. We have been getting a lot of queries of late - “does my Business Interruption policy cover my financial losses arising from this virus?” The short answer, sorry, is no. Business interruption polices generally cover financial loss arising from physical loss or damage occurring or in the vicinity of the business premises e.g. fire, storm, water, impact, earthquake, theft etc.. Some policies have an Infectious Diseases extension benefit for financial loss arising from disease manifesting at or near the business premises, but contain an exclusion once the disease is declared, which states “Quarantinable under the Quarantinable Diseases Act” (which COVID-19 is, and in most cases it is not manifesting at or near the insured premises, it is everywhere). Once a disease gets to this magnitude, where government responses are required (as in war or recessions), the loss is simply uninsurable.
The one area of silver lining is related to Corporate Travel policies. Many of these policies will cover clients for both illness and cancellation expenses where DFAT level 4 warnings are issued and now with the more general overseas travel restrictions. So, providing your trips were booked prior to the restrictions being announced and you had a qualifiable corporate policy, you will be covered.
During the quarantine period, businesses may have reduced hours, staff may work from home, there may be temporary closure, and premises may be less frequented. So, from a risk management perspective, please ensure;
· Machinery, plant and equipment not in use is, if possible, isolated from power to prevent fire risk and possible damage to the equipment from power spikes.
· Ensure the premises is secured to reduce break-in and theft exposures, alarms are activated and gates are locked. Have the premises checked regularly at different times and change a few things around. Collect the mail, put the bins out and clean up. Don’t leave deliveries at the gate or door. Make your place look as though it is business as usual. Thieves may take the opportunity when we are all distracted.
· Maintain your I.T. system including virus software updates, ensuring systems and data are backed up. Look out for new Corona themed scam emails. Cyber criminals are ingenious and will use every opportunity they can.
· Follow the regulators and official advice regarding quarantine and prevention steps.
· Minimise visitation to and from your premises. Personal relationships are what business is built on, but let’s use the technology for the moment.
Jos Hutchinson, The Engaged Space
Jos is an experienced HR specialist and management consultant, advising and supporting SMEs and leaders on compliance, IR, workplace culture and employee engagement
When determining what action your workplace might take during this period, the following example strategies are currently being implemented across many businesses with consideration to their individual context, with the intent to reduce the spread, protect their workforce and assist with business continuity:
· Hygiene reminders in the workplace
· Sanitising the office and having products to wipe down tools and desks
· Mandatory 14 day quarantine for any employee who returns from overseas
· Suspension of any interstate or international business travel
· Splitting the workforce in half e.g. Team A and Team B, with no face to face interaction between the 2, to reduce the entire workforce being infected
· Working from home (either in totality, or as a % of the work week) to reduce infection resulting from the workplace or through travel to the workplace in public transport. This will also prepare for work to go on (where possible) if the predicted further social isolation measures are enforced in line with other countries who are managing to now effectively reduce the speed of transmission
· Face to face team/client meetings replaced with phone or video meetings.
Andy Steven, Andy Steven Photography
Andy is a professional photographer, videographer and digital media specialist, whose primary marketplaces of tourism, events and education are likely to be significantly affected in 2020.
It might come to pass that some of the biggest industries to be affected in the months ahead include tourism, events and education… hmmm… 95% of my income! Like a lot of small business operators, I'm already experiencing mass cancellations due to matters beyond my clients’ control. So, my advice to small business owners is pretty simple. Find a way to operate within your means, so that when things like this come up (and they will again), you can get through them with minimum stress.
I'm personally going to use this period as an opportunity, to explore other sources of work and markets, to potentially diversify beyond events and weekend work. Today’s SME needs a measure of flexibility, so don’t be afraid to change things… before you have to.
Katharine Crane, Crane Creative
Katharine is a social media specialist who helps clients develop and deploy online content and audience engagement strategies that befit their business and market.
Don’t stop putting your business out there on social media. A lot of businesses are talking about “going offline” because of what is happening in the world. This is not what you should be doing, far from it.
In times of crisis, people are on social media more than ever.
· Look at your messaging, ensure that you are mindful of the current climate.
· Pivot. Look at the services you offer and take them online. Zoom is a great way to have an online meeting or webinar.
· Video. Now is the time to get in front of the camera. Talk to your audience, like you would talk to a client in your office. Loom is a great tool to use for this as well, especially if you want to screen share for your videos.
Dan Eggleton, Vinous Consulting
Dan specialises in advising and supporting wine-related businesses in all matters, from technical, business strategy, exporting and scaling up. He’s been brief here, as it’s the depth of vintage and his hands are red and very full…
My tip... Head down, bum up doing the baseline things that keep your entity working.... (gotta go, grapes are calling!)
Alex Thomas, Alex Thomas Pty Ltd
Alex is a work health and safety consultant who specializes in helping her clients recalibrate the value proposition of work health and safety from ‘box-ticking’ to empowering people, reducing risk and ultimately preventing people from getting hurt.
Well, if ever there was a time to acknowledge the value of preventative risk management, now would be it!
By now, you’re probably already having some really robust conversations about what could go wrong, how it might go wrong and what you’re going to do to prevent that from happening in terms of your workforce’s exposure to COVID-19. At the same time, you’re probably also identifying some really unique opportunities to improve the way the work is done and optimise health and safety outcomes in the long run. Consider yourself now a veteran in what it means to be ‘compliant’ with work health and safety legislation!
Once you’ve come up with your strategy for how you’re going to tackle the months ahead, reflect on the process you embarked upon. What worked? What didn’t work? What could you do differently? If you haven’t already got an overarching risk register that captures other risks to health and safety, perhaps now is the time to follow that same line of thought for others that might exist within the business, paying particular attention to the mental wellbeing of your staff. If you already have a risk register in place, perhaps it’s time for a review.
Furthermore, as a chronic over-thinker, here are a few POSITIVE take-aways that have helped me reframe the current situation:
· Hospital staff are exposed to the worst of the worst infectious diseases on a daily basis. If they can do it without getting sick all the time, we can definitely do it.
· If we’re able to vastly improve our approach to good hygiene, what other infectious diseases are we then also avoiding? What impact will this have on our health system and the overall health of society?
· If ever we weren’t ‘good’ at health and wellbeing, what a fabulous opportunity we have now to become good at it! Cooking healthy meals at home, stopping and going for a walk during work hours, spending time in the sun listening to the kookaburras – food for the soul.
· As the Italians have done – connection and community through music, dance and talking to strangers has become their lifeblood. All of a sudden, those who may have felt isolated before now (i.e. those in rural and regional communities, working from home, living with a disability) are becoming hyperconnected. People are and will need to live less is silos and openly demonstrate care for others. Talk to your neighbour. Give someone a smile. Get to know the old lady from across the street. How awesome is that?!
· Australia has one of the best health systems in the world and we’ve learnt a LOT from previous epidemics. We know what to do, and (for once) our government is at the mercy of the science. Irrespective of the timing of their decision-making, there’s no reason why we can’t take it upon ourselves to make our own decisions as to how we rise to the challenge.
· Our grandparents were called to war – we only have to sit on the couch. Let’s use this time to be exceptionally grateful for what we have and not what we don’t have, enjoy the company of those around us and get excited about the kind of future we want to live in. This won’t last forever.
· If vulnerability is the birthplace of creativity, innovation, love and change, then fear is the birthplace of panic, anxiety, isolation and hate. Choose your path wisely and in turn, spread that positivity to those around you – especially the vulnerable, elderly and our health care workers.
If you would like more information from any of the Strategy Road Swarm, or you’d like to speak to a specialist to discuss your particular scenario, you can;
· Visit www.strategyroad.com.au, to see full bios of all Swarm Members, with clickable links to their websites and LinkedIn pages / contact details, or
· Contact Troy Forrest from Strategy Road Pty Ltd – 0430 308963 or troy@strategyroad.com.au - who will put you in touch with the appropriate Swarm member for your needs.
Thank you, and we wish you, your business and your people the very best during this interesting and challenging period. Look after yourselves, and know that we are here, in your corner, ready to help.
The Strategy Road Swarm.
