COVID-19 IS NO LONGER A VALID BUSINESS EXCUSE

COVID-19 is no longer a valid business excuse. It is more than past time to move on.

While today’s economy has not fully recovered, it is more than 90% there, and the momentum is more limited by a lack of supply and employment than demand. Economic factors have not all returned to pre-COVID levels, but they are growing, and the rate is significant and increasing.

If you are waiting for buying patterns and consumers to simply return to what they were doing before in the same volume as before – know that won’t happen. The economy is already healthy and moving forward. Things have changed. Some of your competitors (or substitutes) found ways to sell during the pandemic by adapting products, services, and business practices that are now standard expectations. You may need to catch up.

Here are three signs your business is ready to grow in the post-pandemic economy.

Your sales are increasing. You moved from selling what you did to discovering where your customers spend money and pivoting to get a share. You adapted your terms (e.g., lower minimum orders, longer payment terms, real-time status, and reporting) to become a favored supplier to help your customers grow their business.

Your business has positive cash flow – without considering the funds received from PPP loans. You reduced fixed expenses, adjusted variable expenses, “right-sized” employment, and business practices to fit your current sales volume. Your Balance Sheet has priority over your P&L.

Your business is fully staffed. Not just with “people,” but the right people. Properly trained, properly managed, and properly aligned, your employees are the foundation to support sustained growth.

If your business is still struggling in one or more of these areas, you are left behind. The decision before you is whether to step up or to step out. Speak to your business coach, executive peer group, or fellow business owners to get the help you need. If you don’t have these relationships available, perhaps you’ll consider me. Let’s talk.

Keith

“We have forty million reasons for failure,
but not a single excuse.”

―Rudyard Kipling