Not that ‘C bomb’ the other one, it’s caught us all off guard. As much as the government has stepped up to assist businesses via delayed taxes and furloughed wages, it’s still up to the businesses themselves to bridge the shortfall. So whilst client’s projects are ‘being put on hold’ and most LTD company owners are thinking ‘survival’ (and understandably so), is this a time to capitalise and think ‘grow’?
Easy for me perhaps (with a team of remote workers, low overheads, and a rough guess as to when this will end) to suggest, but it’s important to remember that THERE WILL BE AN END TO THIS, and it’s about what your company will look like when ‘normality’ kicks in.
World and economic leaders speak about this situation being “unprecedented”, but is it? Agreed not to this scale, but much of Asia’s business power houses have already dealt with similar crises in the past couple of decades, and are (it seems) beginning to come out of the other side of the current pandemic. So what lessons can we learn from those who’ve been on the ground in this familiar battle?
I recently spoke to Keiren Harris who is co-founder of DataCompliance LLC based out in Hong Kong, and author of marketdata.guru, who shared this;
There are 2 big differences between SARS in 2003 and COVID-19 today, and these are:
1 – Localisation and scale of impacts. SARS mainly affected Asia, while work carried on in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere, travel was not impacted so consulting work continued, whereas today the virus has gone global
2 – Response, because COVID-19 has gone global governments and businesses have moved towards extreme measures rapidly (people may think these have been slow but they are organisations more prone to inertia). In Asia having been through this before there has been more acceptance today of the need for prudent precautions implemented at society level, and better preparedness on a personal level.
Anecdotally during SARS I was doing a project for a European Bank and had to be in Tokyo. This office insisted I spend 7 days out of Asia before arriving so visited San Francisco beforehand. Once I got to Tokyo and after visiting their office the Head of Trading refused to let me back in, and had to work from the hotel. A week later after getting back to Hong Kong, the Bank moved all their Hong Kong based traders to other offices around the region including to Tokyo! The lack of communication tools then made completing the project challenging.
Even though there is better infrastructure in place now to facilitate tele-commuting, what I am seeing is a lack of business direction and preparation for a post-COVID-19 world, personal interaction is essential for leadership to succeed, and get a full understanding of the environment. This obviously cannot happen so minimum function by default exists, except for certain forward looking individuals. This is something new to the global information services world where businesses should be future proofing or else the recovery will take longer than necessary. Just like in SARS companies which plan ahead will gain the advantage because they will be up and running quicker.
You can read more from Keiren, and his views and strategies as to ways in which the digital industry can lead the way in innovating solutions for the current pandemic.
What’s next then? What can YOU DO NOW, that gives you the edge over the competition and ultimately stops you becoming one of the many small businesses expected to close its doors during all of this.
“it’s the genuine and original approaches in business, that are remembered and rewarded”
Here’s 5 bitesize tips to try and adhere to:
1) Your competition has put the brakes on marketing, this is the time you shouldn’t
BUT it’s important that you offer something of value. Reaching out to a database of users you interacted with 5 years ago to tell them it’s “business as usual” is going straight in the trash. Do something that offers them value, and watch the word spread. I remember reading of a restaurant owner in London who would let non customers use the toilets, and was one day rewarded when a CEO of large brand personally booked the premises out for a 50 person company meal. Whilst this may seem anecdotal, the lesson here is that “it’s the genuine and original approaches in business, that are remembered and rewarded”.
2) Adapt to the current climate
Some fantastic examples of British businesses are circulating online, changing their operating models to the evolving demands of an almost solely online market. How can your product be altered in the short term to adapt these new needs? If you are unable to adapt your service, is there a way it could be executed in a more desirable way to the end user? Again looking East to China, there’s a great article from the FT about how businesses there have worked with local governments to not only evolve, but assist.
3) USE LINKEDIN!!!
Recent weeks have seen a 55% increase in traffic due to uncertainty of employment and ‘C word’ updates. 55%!!!! If more of your target consumers are using something, then you need to be too. If you’re not a premium member already, then it may be the best £25/month you spend, plus the first month is free (I’m not on commission but I’m happy to accept it).
4) Become one with the customer 
The majority of ‘non key workers’ are moving to remote working for example, so offering discounted rail fare in this time of crisis isn’t going to help one bit. Anticipate the changes in their behaviour, think about policy changes you may need to apply, And most importantly be mindful of your tone of voice – people are losing their jobs, homes and loved ones. Yesterday’s meme you sent is tomorrow’s customer you’ve offended.
5) Let’s turn a negative into a positive.
This is shit, for pretty much everyone involved. If your business is able to do something in your community, no matter how small, then bloody do it. As I write this, our business director Darren is out volunteering by delivering food and medicine to vulnerable people in his community. The more we all muck in and help, the quicker this gets sorted. Worst case scenario, you get a feel good bit of PR and endorphins.
I fully appreciate that not every business will be fortunate or cash rich enough to try and push forward with growth right now, but if you do make it through to the other side, learn from this experience, adapt to whatever that environment looks like, and where possible, look out for each other and not just yourself.