Paving the way through uncertainty

Before I begin, the examples I will narrate are not necessarily rules to be followed as each situation faced by individuals, small businesses and companies may be unique to them. However, some people and businesses that I know have used situations to their advantage or have found ways / opportunities to stay the course.

Being close to customers: While being worried about margins and spends is natural, the need for product and services may not go away. Every customer is going to evaluate where to draw the line and if you are equipped to serve their new requirements (which may be much smaller compared to what they started off with). In one of our businesses, the order sizes shrunk. This meant that our costs rose a bit but we countered this by keeping our internal costs in check, watching out for flabs and managing inventory / payment terms better to ensure our margins remained intact.

In another group company, a large brand faced immense pressure on costs because several of their stores across India were underperforming or shut because of low demand and other government imposed restrictions. They pleaded if we could help them through the crisis by adjusting to extended payment terms. While it was expected to hit our cash flows, we renegotiated payment terms with our own vendors and resorted to internal cost control measures to stay afloat.

In a start-up that I know, they made an effort to sense customer spend limits, the kind of items that they would need and dealing with vendors to ensure they cater to exact numbers literally following a just-in-time mode without piling up inventories. When public movement was restricted and strict covid related norms came into play, they took the shop to the customers doorstep using their own person vehicles.

The music academy that I go to has several students who are in the higher age brackets (the academy caters to your passion to sing and age is not a barrier). Unfortunately, the physical classes and face to face teaching at the academy came to a halt and they switched over to the online mode. Some of the senior citizens found it difficult to adapt to the online mode of teaching (which was necessary to keep the learning intact with some compromises like not having an accompaniment like a percussion). Yes, student strength dwindled a bit but there was a new opportunity in terms of new students who were eager to learn but resided outside the country. The online mode of teaching gave the academy and the students a way to connect.

The bigger part are the services that come into play. Our teams went on an overdrive to attend to all customer requirements, sometimes late into the night to overwhelm them and show our commitment to their needs even during tough times.

Yes, internal cost control can affect team morale. The only way out is to communicate honestly. Listen to their problems or issues and take appropriate measures to the extent possible. Yes, there will be fallouts - some members may opt to move on and accept other lucrative offers (yes, the pandemic helped some companies further their cause and they made a killing and hiring was on an overdrive) but that is inevitable. Much as we may try, we cannot provide a solution to all the problems.

Focus on upskilling: If you have the time in hand, spend it on upskilling on some areas that you are fascinated or passionate about. There are abundant number of tutorials / courses freely available on the web. If possible, upgrade your knowledge on topics of interest (just not current affairs. While it is important to know and assimilate what is happening around you, getting into endless debate on politics or politicians or the economy serves precious little except a few wins or irritating losses). This is the time to sharpen all the tools available in your arsenal. Here are some reasons / ways to make it happen,

• You remain relevant; you gain perspectives that may help you in having good conversations and even offering solutions that may not have occurred to you otherwise
• Some conferences and seminars that would have otherwise cost you some money to attend are being offered for free online. You get to listen to experts and the case studies that are shared give you ideas on how you may implement them in your organisation or in your own professional life.
• Follow some experts on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook. The mature advises offered therein may trigger new thoughts or directions that you have been in search of
• There are management articles offered for people who register like - Inc.com, McKinsey.com, Business Insider etc. where you can derive a fair dose of knowledge, inspiration or learning.
• Read books, as many as you can. Digital versions cost less and some paperbacks are available at significant discount through online channels. Follow some experts or some online sites where they offer good recommendations.
• Not exactly upskilling but if fitness was ever your concern, remember you can use your own body weight to exercise at home and there are several online videos that teach you how. Yes, discipline is key and self motivation is important (in spite of all the problems you may be going through)

Extend help, unconditionally: You could, through your professional connects or in-depth understanding of navigating through business issues, help those who may need it now but cannot afford a fee. There are several businesses out there looking out for options and alternatives to services and there are individuals and businesses who can help but are not aware how to reach out. If you can help connect just two people, it paves the way for business to attain a continuity that they badly need.

There are several traditional businesses who never gave much thought of using the online techniques to expand their businesses and now they are stuck with poor offtake and literally no budgets to invest in migrating their business online. If you do have the understanding to offer simple solutions to help them, please do so.

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Last but not the least, you have to focus on controlling spends and one spend that can hit you hard personally could be related to hospitalisation or for seeking urgent medical attention. So don't neglect / sacrifice insurance renewals and yes, stay safe - mask up - maintain social distancing at all times and get vaccinated as and when you are called upon to do so.

Please take care.