This pandemic has wreaked havoc on the business community, especially the small to mid-size businesses (SMB). The statistics say that over 40 percent of SMB’s will close their doors, even the ones that read my first article and developed a Business Operating System. However, for the rest of us, it is about the power of the pivot. It is taking on these challenging times and developing plans to improve operations and adapting our business model that will help us recover. Many of today’s titian of the industry had to recover from crisis early in their journey. Southwest Airlines, Apple, and Progressive Insurance come to mind. How did they do it you ask?
One, they focused on serving their existing customers instead of trying to get new ones. Too many times businesses look at these trying times as an opportunity to pick up new customers/clients, instead of expanding their service/product offering to their existing customers. You see the companies that tend to survive these downturns, have a laser focus on improving/expanding their offerings to their existing customer base by listening and asking the key questions and adapting their model to better service the existing customer needs. For instance, as a consultant agency, we focused on helping organizations learn new leadership skills for managing a work-from-home employee base. Leading people virtual requires a few changes.
Two, they had a clear, simple, and concrete framework for decisions and actions. Furthermore, when they faced a crisis or decline in results, they did not assume that their business operating system had become obsolete. They reevaluated and reconnected with the underlining assumption that went into the development of their business operating systems. In a crisis, we always look for something new instead of going back to the basics like the use of SWOT analysis. After re-evaluating they often went back and used basic tools to make the necessary adjustments to ride out and overcoming the crisis.
Lastly, you can apply these principles to your organization with these three steps.
1. Use the Pareto method, 80/20 rule, to cut low-yielding offers.
2. Strengthen your ability to do your line of business online. Research and learn new tools such as Miro, Loom, Good Day, and Slack.
3. Consider a change to your pricing structure. Evaluate how you can bundle like services and repurpose intellectual content for a one-time fee or subscription service.
If you would like help identifying how your company can pivot in this new business environment, schedule your complimentary consultation today!
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