Changing Your Approach to Business to Survive the Current ..

The challenges and uncertainty caused by tariffs are unprecedented and will be felt by individuals on both sides of the border. As a business owner, you are responsible for yourself and your family – you are also responsible for the care of your employees, their families, and all those who are reliant on your business to keep its doors open. Those affected by your business are going to look to you for answers. Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely road- trust me, I know.

A Time for Introspection

Let’s examine what lessons COVID-19 has taught us. With the lockdown and reduced activity, many of us have had time to reflect on both the personal and business aspects of our lives.

I hope that some of these thoughts resonate with you!

· Appreciate what you have, even though it is difficult at times, given the upfront challenges

· Be clear on what is truly important to you (your health, family, wealth, etc).

· Do not sweat the small stuff – this can be difficult. Remember not to seek perfection when “good enough” will suffice

· Be clear on what is within your control and influence – use this to prioritize your efforts

· Change is inevitable – understand the changing environment and adapt

· Have a support structure on a personal and professional level

· It is important to have clear goals and to atomize them into bite-sized chunks

· Set actions for yourself daily. Keep them small and doable

· Tick off the actions as you go along to enforce the sense of achievement

· Celebrate the small victories without losing sight of the end goals

There is no silver bullet to solve all of our problems, but there are principles and approaches that can help. Below are solutions that I have either personally implemented or have coached other entrepreneurs on successfully. If you have questions or need more information, you can reach me at kenneth@nikshen.com .

1. Understand the ever-shifting environment and adapt your strategy. The only way to achieve this state of readiness is to understand the changing environment and what you can do to adapt and plan.

2. Is your product or service still relevant to the customer in its current form? Should you change your offering to meet your customers’ needs? Example: How do I reduce costs and pricing to negate tariffs?

3. Be empathetic to what your employees are experiencing. Work with them to redefine what the business will look like in the future, uplift their skills to meet these needs, and make them an integral part of the solution. Understand that your success is theirs and vice versa.

4. Develop a clear strategy with clear goals. I have found that the absence of direction tends to make people do nothing. I am sure that one does not embark on a road trip with one’s family without first having some plan on the destination, refueling stops and snacks for the road.

5. Have a clear understanding of your value chain and all costs associated with it. When investigating this, you will get to understand the “fat” (wasteful activities and expenditures) and then consider ways to reduce that fat. You will need to develop a keen eye as you may have become accustomed to the fat over some time. Factory blindness is normal.

6. Do you have a support structure to help you on this journey? Developing a relationship with an experienced and knowledgeable business advisor is highly recommended. An advisor can help you navigate your journey and will result in you building your business, supply chain, and value chain skills.

7. No two organizations have the same problem. I will contradict myself now by saying that the same problems will have different solutions. Allow me to elaborate. Every problem – even if they appear to be the same on face value – resides in a different environment, hence, the resolution cannot be the same. If any professional suggests that they can fix your problems with the “cookie cutter” or “one size fits all” approach, then run. The correct professional help will result in a tailored, customized solution.

8. Set out an action plan daily and tick them off as you go. Having a sense of accomplishment has a huge psychological benefit and will motivate you. Take this approach with your employees. Set operational targets (KPI’s – Key Performance Indicators) for your teams and review them often. KPI’s will give your team direction and purpose.

As entrepreneurs, we need to show high levels of resilience. With the correct plan and guidance, the above points can be implemented quickly and could help you move towards business survival.

Tags: # Supply Chain #Productivity #Optimization #Route to Market #Kenneth Moodley

Dr Kenneth Moodley LinkedIn or www.nikshen.com

Contact: kenneth@nikshen.com

Publisher / CEO: Nikshen Global Solutions

Professor: Supply Chain Management, Operations &
Productivity improvement