No company would have planned and considered the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the business. Many leaders finalize their planning and work plans by December of the year – where they review the strategy, scorecard targets, budgets, work plans, and planned outcomes against what was achieved.
By December 2020, coronavirus was not yet a big thing. Few companies, if any, could have anticipated and adjusted their strategies and financials accordingly at the time.
Now that covid19 has happened, leaders must urgently go back to the drawing table and make updates to their strategy, and work plans or business plans for 2020 and beyond. This year is going to be tough. Now is the time to adjust your strategy, plans, cash flows, budgets, and everything in between.
What is the impact of coronavirus on your business?
What are your critical business processes? What is your business model? How do you earn money and create value? How has covid19 affected any of these things?
What are the short term and medium-term challenges do you envisage for your business? How do you plan to address them? Who are your major customers, suppliers, and partners, and how has covid19 affected their ability to support your business or organization?
Have you undertaken the business impact analysis of your business? What is the impact in terms of lost revenue, key staff, customers, and processes?
Have you documented a board briefing showing the impact of covid19 on your business? You need to document the covid19 response and recovery strategy, and the budget.
Tough times call for tough people.
When a person has a cut and they are losing brand, the first aid is to stop the bleeding. Have you assessed your business and identify areas that are bleeding cash? How do you plan to stop the bleed?
Remember, people will examine your leadership and ask why you just waited instead of anticipating and making the tough calls. That is what leadership is all about: anticipating challenges and making the right decisions.
If your business is highly brick and motor and such places are just accumulating rental costs, now is the time to examine your distribution strategy, and whether it makes sense or not. The earlier you close some outlets, the better. Do not worry about what others may think. No good leader is loved by all. You must make sacrifices and let some partners go, so that you may thrive.
Remember, make decisions based on data, not hearsay, and opinions.
Do you need templates for covid19 board briefing papers? Inbox me with your email or comment below.
Copyright Mustapha B Mugisa 2020. All rights reserved.
