Uncertainty might just be the new normal...

and How you can use this to your advantage.

(Part 1 of a 3-part series. Redesigning the Pathway through the Global Pandemic.)

All businesses move through a lifecycle.

Your business may be in a start-up phase, it may be an established business, or you may be facing challenges as you grow. Other businesses may be struggling to grow, with their margins being squeezed and traditional markets or distribution platforms disappearing. And others might be considering their exit options or be transitioning in preparation for a sale or a handover to the next generation. 

Regardless of where your business is at right now, there is something that is unique to all of us. We have all been impacted by the greatest health crisis and pandemic in modern times.

For many of us, this has disrupted not only our business and our lifestyle but possibly also our health or the health of someone we love and care about.

Many CEO’s and business leaders are reconsidering their priorities, their action plan and business model.

The pandemic has stretched and see-sawed nationally and internationally, without a recognised or uniform path, which in turn impacts all of us in business and in life.

Our economies are in free fall and the recovery has not yet begun and may take a decade.

So, the future is still uncertain and for many of us that is confronting, it is unnerving, and it makes us feel anxious.

It may make us feel like now is not the right time to be making strategic business decisions.

I would like to challenge and encourage you to see how you can use the uncertainty to your advantage.

Right now is a brilliant opportunity to redesign your business and explore the path forward which will be connected at its heart and soul to your purpose. If you are not doing this, then the future of your business might be at further risk.

5 key questions for you to ask as you redesign your business for success.

1.     What is it about our business that is special?

2.     Why do we exist and why should anybody care?

3.     What is it about your business that delivers real value to our customers? What does it allow them to enjoy? What problem(s) do we fix? What opportunities do we provide for our team members, our clients and community?

4.     And how does your product or service or our distribution platforms positively communicate and impact your audience? What contribution are we making beyond our products and services?

5.     What does our client experience look and feel like for those people that we are privileged to serve?

The very best businesses understand that there are very few things in life that are certain.

They know there are very few things that we can control.

They understand that innovation is the only true way to survive and many have chosen to disrupt themselves > to look at, and to question, what it is that they do and ask what is the real value they deliver. 

We are seeing leaders recognise that it’s time to be bold, to re-consider the future and strategies to maximise the engagement, impact and value for their team, stakeholders and clients.

In many ways, COVID-19 has provided us with an opportunity to redesign our business. Over the next 2 articles, we will provide further insights to help answer the 5 questions above.

Right now we encourage you to seriously reflect with your business partners on what you have learned about your business, your leadership, your ability to adapt and innovate. No doubt your systems and process will have been tested.

This strategic review, challenging everything about your business is presenting an opportunity to create a business that will be more profitable, valuable and enjoyable moving forward. 

Change is inevitable. Progress is not.

 In part 2 of this series, we will take a deeper dive into the redesign of your business so that it is both attractive and relevant, as we move through the pandemic and face a variety of New Normals.

Alec Blacklaw, Blacklaw Advisory is a Business Transformation Specialist providing CEO Advisory support to privately held and family business owners who are looking to create a more profitable, valuable and enjoyable business.

If you have any feedback or wish to ask Alec a question reach out at [email protected] or +61 408351403