Where did all the money go? Five quick tips to get your business booming

As the reports surface of the UK economy contracting by over 20% in a single quarter, with over 600,000 job losses already and the furlough scheme soon to end, you’d be forgiven for having a conservative outlook on business right now. A recession seems inevitable and the relatively free flowing money at the turn of the year has very much dried up.

However, the opportunity for growth has never been greater and there’s plenty of success stories out there. So how do you capitalise on these opportunities and become one of the “lucky” businesses thriving through adversity? Here’s my five top tips:

1. Cost control – when every pound needs to stretch that little bit further it’s time to keep your costs down. Reduce usage of any resource you can, repurpose resources that you can’t get rid of, re-negotiate the prices on anything you still need and remove anything that’s no longer making you money.
2. Adapt don’t recover – when business gets disrupted most businesses focus nearly all their attention on how to recover their old services. “If we can just get this area moving again then...”. Look forwards and you’ll see that the business environment has moved. It’s not about hoping that old services become popular again, it’s about adapting old services to make them better, more relevant, more valuable to consumers today.
3. Stick to strategy – when the only constant is change itself, it can be easy to find your business further and further away from what you’re aiming for. Detailed plan’s and forecasts are near enough impossible at the moment so strip your strategy back. Focus on your vision of where you want to be and then build a one-page-plan of how you are going to get there. The plan should be a guide not a rule book and stick to what you are good at. Each adaptation should be to move you back inline with your vision, so it’s your services and operations that adapt not your strategy.
4. External solutions for internal problems – keep track of what’s going on around you, what looks like it works and what clearly doesn’t. Competitor analysis and product surround tools can be great for identifying opportunities to adapt, but in its simplest form just keep track of what your competitors are doing and don’t be left behind. Also, keep an eye on what businesses in other industries are doing. Whilst they might not be directly comparable to you, they might give you ideas you can adapt and apply.
5. Utilise support – they say that there are only seven types of story and every book is just an adaptation of these. Much the same can be said for business. The solution to your biggest challenge has probably been done by another business somewhere at some point. In the hardest business conditions we’ve ever faced, it’s time to use the support that’s available. Build a network of colleagues, professional acquaintances and business advisors and use the advice and support they can provide.

If you would like to discuss any of these points further, or see how our business advisory team might be able to support you further then please get in touch with you usual Larking Gowen contact or enquiry@larking-gowen.co.uk

Will Gibbs