COVID-19: LESSONS FOR BUSINESSES

COVID-19 has shuttered all theories and principles of building a successful business. True. Things have turned out in a way we never imagined. Businesses, big and small are going through hard times and all the uncertainties and anxieties is not helping.

It’s especially hard for small businesses. Let me give you a picture. As at this point we’ve already received notices for cancellation and suspension of our contract from a number of our clients. It’s a fact that many businesses will close. Others will be massively scaling down their operations. You know what this means – job cuts. ILO has predicted that as many as 25 million jobs will be swept away by this pandemic.

Right now it might look so gloomy. There’s a lot to cry about, there is a lot to be sad about. There are enough reasons to panic. As entrepreneurs and business leaders, we have to learn to look at the positive side of things in the midst of storm.

What will happen post COVID-19? There will be fundamental shift in the way we plan and do business. Over the last couple of days, I’ve been asking myself if there is something I would have done differently if I knew this was coming. The answer is a definite yes. And am sure many business leaders out there are asking the same question.

Unfortunately, things are the way they are at the moment. The most important thing is the lessons we come out with once the storm settles.

Businesses will have to re-think their business models and explore strategic shifts to pivot there businesses to make them more adaptable to changing operating environment. Businesses will be forced to embrace change and be willing to do things they never thought would be possible. Am sure you’ve already seen this happening.

I’ll highlight four things that I think every business should think about:

1. Companies will start thinking hard on how to better manage some functions within their business. Think about such functions as logistics and warehousing. Can some of these functions be outsourced to 3rd parties which means that in a time of crisis like now, businesses can make drastic scale down of their operations without major financial cost? Could 3rd party service providers who charge per Cubic Metre (CBM) fee be better than managing own facility leases with rigid legal contracts? This way you can easily adjust your cost of operations to match the level of activity within the business. And you make your business a little more agile to adapt to sudden changes like it is happening now.
2. The other very critical factor we’ll be thinking about is our workforce. All this long, managers in most organizations have not been welcome to the idea of remote workforce. We all like people to report to the office at 8. AM, clock in and clock out in the evening. My point is not whether to have people working in office or from home although that would also be an option. My point is, are there roles within functions like finance, HR etc we can outsource to specialist HR companies? Roles like telemarketing, sales, debt management, customer service. Better still, are there roles we can hire on demand say for example graphic design, merchandising for FMCG companies among others. I know some industries like hospitality knows this better. We have waiters and Chefs working in two and or more hotel establishments each week. This provides flexibility for both workers and the businesses to engage each other. This also happens within healthcare sector. Let's think about it.
3. Taking your business online. This does not mean building a complex e-commerce platform. It means something as simple as having a Facebook page for your business and starting to engage your clients. There is never a business too small to transact online. If you’re selling fresh produce, clothing, or running a grocery shop in your neighborhood, what we call Mama Mboga business, it’s the time to think about building your business online. You'll be amazed by the untapped opportunities within your neighborhood. I know big businesses will allocate serious resources in building their online business platforms. And I know even church ministers are thinking hard on how to build good platforms to engage their congregants online. It’s the time. We have YouTube, Facebook and others. Again it’s up to you.
4. Adoption of online collaboration and project management tools. Today, organizations are trying to manage staff working from home and am sure it’s a headache for those who are waking up to this idea for the first time. They don’t know how to schedule tasks, how to measure performance and how to hold effective meetings with multiple teams working out of office. They have to learn and this is the time. We have such tools as Trello, Asana, Slack and hundreds of others out there. These tools are meant to help you get more organized, effectively galvanize and communicate with your teams no matter their geographical location and help your business become more efficient. Let’s learn.

This is a learning season and a time to re-imagine your business. I also know that this has put a spark into e-commerce especially in Kenya and Africa. It’s not all gloom. Let’s be positive. Let’s speak hope. Let’s have a smile. Let’s be happy. This shall come to pass.

And finally, for me one of the greatest lesson will be how to live a lean lifestyle. Live on less and live much happier.