Businessman in empty city-covet 19 shuts down CBD Offices
Introduction and Overview
As a result of the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic, businesses were forced to rapidly adapt to compensate for the impact of the disruption caused by the pandemic. This led to the creation of radical new business models and practices.
Keeping their finances strong has been the top priority for the majority of businesses. For many, cashflow management and forecasting has required urgent attention, to maintain liquidity & even their survival.
The good news is that many businesses around the world, including in Australia and New Zealand, are achieving significant benefits using these new business models and practices which are revolutionising the way companies operate. To realise these potential benefits however, businesses need to be faster, bolder, and more agile than ever before.
In Australia and New Zealand businesses have experienced significant disruption caused by COVID‑19 since March 2020. As I updated this article in early December 2021, the world has vaccines that are proving succesful in providing protection, although many 3rd world countries still dont have sufficient access to the vaccinations.
it’s still not possible to predict when the impacts of the pandemic on our economies, businesses and people will end. The reality is that the virus, in some form, will be around for years to come.
But we are fortunate that both Australia and New Zealand have, up to now, been more successful in containing the virus than any other developed countries. This has been possible because as Island Nations we were able to shut our borders to the outside world, but the economic cost of doing this has been enormous.
The reality is that we are far from having covid-19 under control. New outbreaks requiring lock-downs are still occuring as new variants are emerging and being spread rapidly aroiund the world.
As I amended this article in early December 2021, yet another variant “Omicron” has just emerged and scientists are rushing to understand the consequences.
It is clear that uncertainty is still high, so the need for businesses to maintain or strengthen their business resilience will be crucial.
Covid-19 Program
I have invested a lot of time and energy studying the the impact of covid-19 on businesses and the population, and what the Post Covid-19 new normal will look like.
I have used what I have learnt from the articles published by the world leading companies I have studied to create a comprehensive program to help businesses to understand and implement the elements that will work well for them, including business resilience and a comprehensive cashflow management and forecasting module, which will be crucial for many businesses.
The 4 main types of business resilience that companies have to optimise and manage on an ongoing basis are Financial, Operational, Commercial and Community Resilience.
In each of those areas of your business you should also be considering adopting Agile practices, creating cross functional teams of high performers from each function on a project-by-project basis with a clearly defined outcome and a rapid timetable for completion.
An important type of project will be the Digitisation of some of your systems & processes.
Financial Resilience.
The Covid-19 Pandemic has dramatically highlighted the importance of financial resilience.
Keeping their finances strong has also required firms to adapt existing financial frameworks to a more volatile environment. Profitability, cashflow and access to funding will be under pressure.
Strong Financial Resilience requires businesses to adapt their existing financial frameworks to deal with a much more volatile environment in which profitability, cashflow and access to funds are experiencing simultaneous pressure.
If appropriate, you should consider embedding rolling 13 week, monthly and annual cash flow forecasts into your budgetary and financial management cycles.
For many businesses, cashflow management has required urgent attention, to maintain liquidity & even survival.
Operational Resilience.
The majority of businesses have had their delivery models, supply chains, people, technical and physical infrastructure impacted to some extent. They need to find their way through these challenges whilst concurrently still employing proper governance, risk and control measures.
Commercial Resilience
is also an issue as sales & marketing teams assess the impact on sales from changes in customer behaviours & demand for your products, whilst at the same time assessing the resilience of their own brands.
Community Resilience.
Concern for our communities has been of paramount importance. While many government measures have been put in place to help businesses and individuals through the crisis, businesses also have an important role to play in our community’s health and well-being.
So, we have experienced the impacts of COVID‑19 and are now moving towards the new reality of how our businesses can and should operate in the future.
To be part of this future, businesses will need to build their overall Business Resilience. Not only for the current crisis, but also for the inevitable uncertainty and challenges yet to come.
We all need to make sure we have comprehensive crisis management strategies in place, that can be rapidly switched on to meet any future crises.
So, is your business ready for the New Reality?
Whilst for many businesses this will mean strengthening their business resilience, for the more fortunate businesses, that have the means to do so, to take advantage of the situation in your industry to develop and implement a strategy to consolidate your position.
Conclusion
If you believe that the Covid 19 Business Resilience Program might be valuable for you, to provide you with the knowledge, and skills you will need to get through the pandemic and emerge more resilient than ever, or to take advantage of the situation in your industry to develop & implement a strategy to consolidate your position:
You can book a Free 20-minute strategy call with me personally in my calendar, so we can discuss whether working with me to implement this program would be the right option for you at this time.
You will receive an email confirmation and a reminder from my booking system prior to the meeting.
Or send me a text message with a brief explanation of what you need help with, and I will call you back for an initial chat within 24 hours. My mobile number is 0418 277 137
