Richard Dixon...Make changes now.
2021 Forecast - How to get your business back on its feet
Published: 10th Dec 2020
What can businesses in SA expect in 2021?
I'm going to get straight to the point to provoke some thinking that hopefully will prompt readers into attempting a business reset.
Given where we may all find ourselves right now in the “survival stage”, and still in the midst of a COVID 19 crisis, is it not better right now to start understanding that we have reached a cyclical time for “future proofing” your business paradigms and to immediately start planning the “recapture stage” of business in the South African context?
Get to it now and more quickly than you have ever done before, own it and lead, in order that your business invests thought processes in becoming “operationally ready” and prepared for the next normal of the “prosper stage”.
Be mindful of this:
- What was the business hoping to achieve in 2020? Then reassess those options based on where your business is right now.
- What were the stresses your business faced and from these experiences, how can the business prepare for and circumvent them in the future.
- What in your business worked well during the “survival stage” and what did not work? Erase everything that did not work and did not generate a sufficient contribution to your business during the “survival stage”.
- What relationships and partnerships not only supported you during the “survival stage” but more importantly which ones ensured that your business remained financially stable and helped you to survive? Tough decisions but do avoid the emotional entrapment we can all be so accustomed to.
20 Things to consider:
- Lean teams work.
- Accelerate your tech development.
- Global supply chains will recover.
- Consolidate your logistics and distribution costs.
- Energy prices will increase.
- Inflationary pricing will return.
- Manage expenditure as you did in the “survival stage”.
- Reposition all real estate costs.
- Travel less in the short term.
- Interest rates will remain at low levels.
- Do not plan for worst case scenarios.
- Taxes will increase.
- The Government will continue to make loans.
- Unemployment levels will not improve.
- The economically active levels will stabilise.
- Corruption will not be quantitatively eased.
- The geo-political environment will become more challenging.
- Continue to protect your margins.
- The ZAR currency is currently the best emerging markets performer.
- Economic recovery will be a reality.
While the content may not spell out a fully scoped “survival, recapture and prosper stage”, you are welcome to contact me if you would like to understand even more about it and the background to the 20 points.
It is in reality all embodied in this: “PAUSE, RETHINK, ERASE, REBOOT”. - Richard Dixon at connect@tri-africa.net, www.triafricaconsulting.com
This article s part of a feature set of articles that were published in S&V Footwear & Leather Goods Magazine Vol83 No11 November 2020
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