Based on the New Norm we discussed in tip #4, are you able to adjust or modify your business model, products and services to accommodate?
Instead of jumping into the bandwagon, where many people are selling sanitiser, face mask, thermometer etc – which I don’t regard as an adjustment to the business model – it’s very much trying to seize the opportunity. This is just for the short term, it’s not going to be useful to you in the long run.
The following are the main areas that you have to redesign in order to be ahead of your competitors (of similar size)
1. SHARING ECONOMY
- In the past, most people will probably interpret this as “shared resources”, for example, a few small companies would hire 1 accounting staff and shared his/her salary; in the case of Group of Companies, the set up a Shared Services Unit to support all units within the Group;
- No, I’m not referring to this type of sharing;
- There are many spare resources in our economy that hasn’t been fully utilised;
- When Uber extended their reach to people who have spare time and are willing to be a driver after their busy schedule, that’s the beginning of our modern sharing economy. Ever since then, we have AirB&B, Grab, Food Panda etc;
- So if you want to be at the top of the supply chain, you have to be the “Platform” that manages these spared resources in our economy;
- But if you are not so ambitious, just consider something like an outsource or freelance supply to your business with a very small objective, lowering your fixed commitment/overheads. This will allow you to have more flexibility in managing your cash flow.
2. DIGITALISING DOCUMENT
- Digital documents are not new to us but for whatever reason, it’s not a popular option to many businesses in Malaysia – especially for the small businesses;
- They rather keep hard copies in a bulky file instead of scanning and storing these documents as a soft copy;
- Nevertheless, during the Movement Control Order (“MCO”), when most of us don’t have access to these physical documents, our administration process seems to be in a big mess;
- With the increase in demand for digital documentation, you will have to incorporate this expectation into your business process flow (be it with external parties or internal). For example, the issuance of digital receipts upon collection, emailing of digital invoices to customers, application of staff’s leaves online, submission of claims online etc;
- With the practice of digital documents, your business will also require more cloud storage space and a higher level of security, though this will increase your IT costs. In the long run, this will cut down a lot of your time spent in searching for physical documents.
3. CLOUD-BASED SOFTWARE
- Although cloud-based softwares are not new to many big corporations, small businesses are still not very keen on using it;
- This is largely because of their initial investment in the localised software and the servers. Not to mention, their fears mainly lie on 3rd party security for the maintenance of cloud storages;
- Even though you are still able to access to your own server remotely, the speed to access the server and its data is usually not as fast as directly accessing from the cloud storage;
- Moreover with cloud-based software, you can install them into your mobile devices without needing the software keys – simple and fast
- As for the maintenance costs, It’s not really a huge concern. In fact, maintaining an in-house IT team and the costs of upgrading your IT security from time to time can costs you even more.
4. UPSKILL EMPLOYEES
- During the MCO, many employees either work from home or can’t perform their job as they may not be able to perform remotely;
- And many employers are now looking into upskilling their employees so that they are able to multi-task instead of specialising in one particular function;
- The typical example is in the field of sales;
- Most companies have salesmen that meet customers physically, and there are digital marketers that work on marketing and branding;
- Nevertheless, during the MCO, the salesmen in a way became redundant (not all of them), and now realised that online channels were the missing link;
- But if they are to hire new staffs to handle the online sales, what will happen to these salesmen? and bear in mind that most small businesses do not have much budget to maintain a big team;
- Therefore, it makes more economic sense to upskill these salesmen and let them handle the physical as well as online sales;
- Not only are you able to give them an additional skill set, but you also allow them to plan their sales strategy accordingly;
5. REMOTE MONITORING
- Prior to MCO, many businesses spent unnecessary time on in-branch visits/meetings;
- With the familiarisation of video conferencing facilities, many business owners are now keen to replace physical meeting to online meeting;
- The amount of time saved from travelling can now be of good use.
As for your future sales, you’ll need to observe the buying trend of your customers during the MCO (existing and potential). Even this could mean that they’ve changed the pattern due to logistic constraints. The shift of practice during the MCO can create a new habit for your customers. If you can adjust your selling to cater for them (even after MCO), you stand a better chance to retain them. Do not treat the current buying pattern as temporary, this is probably a new norm that many people ignore.
Good business leaders stay calm during a crisis. They need to observe the changes in the ecosystem, understand the shift of buying patterns before planning for a counter-attack. Do not waste your limited budget to try everything. Be calm, be strategic and be resilient.
#sme #smallbusiness #entrepreneurship #crisismanagement # newnorm #startups