Two make-or-break topics for 'Post-Covid' businesses

There is no doubt everyone underestimated the scale and severity of the Covid-19 pandemic. What started as ‘just a strain of flu in China’ has clearly claimed more lives than anyone ever could have anticipated. The devastating effects have touched all aspects of life – from families and loved ones, to businesses, governments and economies. It is a global tragedy that will be felt for years to come.

As the world begins to piece itself together post lockdown and return to some sense of normality, there are several key topics that business leaders need to pay attention to, and make decisions on, that shape the future of companies.

The Inevitable Recession

Whilst the economists will take years to calculate the true cost of Covid-19, there is one fact that all economies face. Economic contraction. In almost all countries around the world, governments have bailed out companies and individuals – both large and small. Whether payroll subsidies or some form of business loan scheme, it has cost governments billions to execute. When you layer those schemes with the economic levers that have been used to try to stabilise economies and prevent panic (such as huge levels of quantitative easing), you soon start to see the phenomenal future monetary issues facing governments. Debt levels and currencies have been hugely impacted. Billions has been wiped off the value of companies, markets and commodities. Interest and inflation rates massively impacted. The economy has literally been pushed back in time from an economic viewpoint. As a result, in the UK alone it is being forecast that the economy of the entire country will contract by at least 30%. To provide context, that is 3 times worse than witnessed during the 2008 credit crunch. Think mass unemployment, issues with interest rates and inflation etc. It isn’t going to be pretty.

Now, at the minute, everyone’s sole attention is on Covid-19 and, quite rightly, it is high on everybody’s agenda. For those leading businesses, however, they need to prepare for this inevitable downturn. Now.Business leaders need to think how they can do things for less, find more cost-effective routes to market and how they need to pivot their business model to cope with these trends. Sadly, many will fail by not being prepared and ‘doing more of the same.’ It is inevitable. However, those that adapt early will thrive and we will begin to see the rise of new businesses, some appearing almost overnight. These will be leaner, more efficient, with a new way of working. The future businesses.

The Remote Working Trend.

Over the last 6 months, the world was suddenly propelled into a remote working frenzy. Those quick to react, hastily reorganised. They deployed new software, new working practices and trained and redeployed staff. They also discovered, and solved, problems they never knew existed – mental health issues working from home, team’s productivity, selling big deals 100% remotely etc etc.

So, as the world returns to normal, business leaders should ask themselves – what is the new normal? Fundamentally, there are two types of companies emerging. The “Oh I can’t wait until this is all over so we can get back to normal” vs. the “we’ve adapted, why would we go back”. Those in the latter camp have opportunities to reap. Take a simple example, why would a company choose to have several offices across several geographies after training all its staff and customers how to transact remotely? They wouldn’t. Therefore, they capitalise on savings associated with real estate etc. Those that drop back into business as usual – well… you can see where this is going…

Those super smart should already be thinking to the next iteration of remote working. At the minute, we’ve just moved a workforce to their homes, 10 miles from an office. It won’t be long until executives realise that remote working could be 1000 miles away. The systems, processes and procedures are all the same. Distance just became a number, not a hurdle. The benefits of global markets and exchange rates offer huge potential for those who get it right.

Don’t get me wrong, these things were always going to happen at some point in time. What Covid-19 has done is to accelerate the world into it and force change far faster than the everyone was ready for.

Our role

At ten80 we are trying to support companies through these incredibly challenging times. We recognise our software has a role to play and have partnered with various companies to allow complementary access to our systems and tools. We want to help you rebuild your business to cater for the next industrial revolution.

Take a look at https://ten80.group/sap-covid-19 for more info.