Is it time to rewrite the rule book?
If we learnt anything from 2020, and the start of 2021, it’s that anything can happen. We’ve all become accustomed to having our lives, and the things we are and aren’t allowed to do, being changed at the drop of a hat. For businesses, this has all too often found them being on the backfoot; having to scrabble around to implement new schemes or navigate their way around restrictions.
For many businesses, change and adaptation has been an essential part of recent months. So nearly a year since the start of the pandemic, how can we use the lessons we have learned to shape the future?
Embrace the pandemic
With Covid-19 set to be part of our lives for the foreseeable future, it might well be time to reframe the way we think about ‘business as normal’. For most businesses, a return to the way things were is still a long way off, and may never return for others. So faced with this, should we instead embrace the pandemic; finding ways to integrate the more permanent changes to the way people buy and interact with businesses on a long-term basis?
Think the impossible
Whilst we may have had to adjust our expectations in many aspects of our lives, placing downbeat forecasts on a business may serve to create a lessened performance. Businesses that have been able to find a way through the pandemic should be confident about their future. Whilst expectations should still be achievable, instead of scaling back forecasts, why not go for the maximum they can be? After all, if you shoot for the stars, you might just hit the moon.
Be the master of your own destiny
For much of the last year, businesses have found themselves on the backfoot, having to fall in line with the changes set out by external forces. Whilst there’s no getting around restrictions dictated by lockdowns or tiers, it is possible to set your stall out to be well-placed for when these are lifted, or even to find a way to retain or adapt your business within the rules. For some businesses, these adaptations, which may only have been intended as a temporary measure, may actually prove to be a more profitable way of operating. Sometimes, you never know unless you try.
Leave a Reply