How Your Company Can Survive an Economic Downturn - and Emerge Stronger
Travel bans, city lockdowns, curbing on big group gatherings - these are but a few stringent measures taken by countries globally in a bid to gain tighter control on the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic landscape is looking bleak, especially with social distancing and quarantine orders significantly impacting many economic and social activities.
It is clear that an economic recession is just around the corner; some economists are even calling this situation a “war”, according to The Straits Times. This begs the question: how can your company survive this crisis?
It’s natural for leaders to think about how to brace themselves and their company for the harsh economic conditions ahead. Taking cues from past economic crises, here are 3 tips that will help you prepare for the upcoming global recession.
Growth is Key
While it might be intuitive for business leaders to channel their energy solely towards minimising their spending, companies should have a balanced approach towards performance. In a study done by Harvard Business Review, the small minority of companies that saw returns during an economic downturn had significant revenue growth, accounting for nearly 50% of their shareholder return. Instead of focusing on short-term cost-cutting measures, driving growth is equally as important and in most cases, may be beneficial for your company in the long-run.
Increasing revenue is the goal for driving growth. According to Inc., there are 3 main ways a company can go about doing this: sell more, sell to more, and sell for more. During such challenging times, there’s a fine line between being opportunistic and being helpful - always go for the latter, and make sure your services offered are relevant to your customers. Speak to them to ask them about their needs and concerns and actively listen to gain key insight into how you can alleviate their problems.
Time to Get Creative
Innovation thrives in times of crisis, especially when other companies are looking for ways to cut inefficiencies and losses. This is the perfect time to turn up your business networking and receive valuable advice from other business owners.
It is also a good time to understand the unique demands of your industry, discover gaps, and develop plans to plug them. The Balance suggests 3 ways to go about doing so: assess your strengths, identify unsolved problems, and consider niche markets. Even an off-the-record chat with your customers can be a simple and straightforward way to gain insight into hidden gaps in the current market.
Invest for the Future
Money management is crucial in a time like this. However, companies should also recognise the grave need for digitisation, especially with increasing dependence on digital tools. As more companies implement work from home measures, staying connected online has become the new norm. Read what Mr Vincent Low, Senior Director & General Manager of Canon’s Business Imaging Solutions, has to say about the trend towards digitisation.
Canon has always been actively involved in empowering local businesses, finding ways to make your business processes and workflows much more streamlined. In this time of crisis, you don’t need to be bogged down with menial tasks and inefficiencies - let Canon Business Services (CBS), our specialist consultancy and outsourcing arm, take care of your non-core business functions, allowing you to focus on your core business drivers. Interested to find out how our CBS experts can help transform your business? Reach out to us here for more information.
Tap on Government Schemes
As part of the Singapore government's efforts to assist businesses during this period, the Resilience Budget was introduced. Aimed at enhancing digitalisation and upgrading of skills, these programmes include increasing support for SMEs during this downtime to digitalise, restructure, and transform. For example, the SMEs Go Digital Programme will be expanded to provide more support for a wider range of digital solutions, including basic remote working tools to more complex systems.
Companies can utilise this scheme to boost their internal digital processes.Canon has been a trusted partner in the digitisation process. Our wide variety of digital solutions are designed to make your company’s digital transformation as smooth as possible, allowing your business processes to operate seamlessly even during this time of hardship. Reach out to us here to find out how our solutions can empower your company today.
Building a recession-proof business requires hard work and versatility. With these tips in mind, stay level-headed, vigilant and flexible and your company should come out of this crisis stronger than before. Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn for more business insights!