We’ve survived the pandemic- at least personally.   Now, the question is- will our businesses?  (Basically, only the ‘beltway bandits’ have no need to change their business model or service offering.  Everyone else has a whole new landscape to survey and capture.)

Yes,  it is officially a recession in America.  (It might be the start of a depression.)  But, the real issue is that we have really survived a tsunami- an avalanche of economic hurt, personal deprivation, mental anguish, and logistics destruction.  In previous recessions, 17% of our businesses disappeared.  Not all went bankrupt- some were acquired.  But, virtually all of the survivors found it difficult to deal with the battering- so much so that 3 years post-recession 80% had not recovered their sales and profits trajectory.  40% not only missed the trajectory, but they didn’t reach their pre-recession levels at all. (This is from an Harvard Business Review article after the last recession.) Yes, 9% flourished (operating 10% better than their previous trajectories)- and they realized their planning made the difference.

Here’s another fact.  When we flattened the curve- we extended the COVID-19 exposure.  Sure, fewer of us may die and our hospitals were not overrun, but now the disease will linger longer.

That’s why we are all startups.  Because nothing that happened before is going to happen now without us rethinking why/what/how we are doing.  A startup looks at every single day as if a pandemic had just ended. Every idea, every concept must be validated.

So, let’s think like a startup.

1. We must re-validate our market demand and our products.

How has our customer/client world changed? What do they need going forward- is there an alternative service or product that will be useful?  How much of that will they need? What are our competitors doing to steal our market?  What other categories and channels can our offerings satisfy?  (Yes, even those that we rejected before!)

2. We must be passionate to yield hand-in-glove product/service-user fit.

Why do folks buy our stuff?  Do we need to improve it/them to better service their needs?  How do we communicate that to our (potential/actual) patrons.

3. We must develop and follow the right business model.

As I’ve written many times, our firm routinely updates and modifies our business plan.  To make sure that our business model matches what we see in the marketplace and that we are properly addressing its needs.  That means pricing, contract durations, service deliveries, channels…   Well, what are you waiting for?  Start doing that, too! 

4. We must evaluate our core competencies vis-à-vis the changed market.

Especially now, we must see what the market wants and make sure we can deliver it- consistently.  Even if we offered that service before, if we can’t now- either because of governmental restrictions, lack of staff, lack of cash, poor supply conditions- we need to drop it.  And, re-evaluate later as conditions change.  Now is the time to capitalize on OUR core capabilities- as they exist now.

5. We must move quickly and precisely.

Time is money.  It’s that simple,  And, since we’ve probably had zero revenue for 8 to 12 weeks, that makes time an even more important quantity.  What’s the burn rate at which we can survive?  And, then, we must make sure our revenue meets (or, better yet, exceeds) that burn rate.  If we aren’t meeting that burn rate, it’s time to go back to Step 1.

6. We must adjust our go-to market model continually.

Now, more than we needed to in the past, we must deliver our service/product at reasonable cost.  Promote, marketing, and servicing our customers needs- making sure they know we ARE there to meet their needs and expectations.  Which also means we need to canvas our clientele to find out what’s foremost in their minds, so our offerings match their needs.

Remember how Adizes describes the life of our company?

 

 

 

 

 

It makes little difference where we were on 15 February.  We are now at the inflection point- and we must engineer our path to the best trajectory.  Or we will oversee the death of our business.

As an example, consider what Advanced BioCatalytics Corporation has done.  Sure, they claimed that  they were “biotechnology driven to make chemical solutions for a better environment”.  And, it was true that they used proteinaceous materials to effect oil and gas fracking.   (So, it shouldn’t surprise you that BP is one of their investors.)

If you remember, one of the first casualties of the pandemic was the refinery business.  (Yes, I know that it was aided and abetted by a battle of wills [won’ts?] between Russia and Saudi Arabia, but that’s an immaterial factor here.)  And, as it became clear that America was about to self-inflict a tsunami (TheDonald assured (NOT) America that this was a hoax, that it would disappear in a heartbeat) on its population, Carl Podella (founder, EVP of R&D) wanted to shift the firm from fracking fluids to liquid disinfectant  to capitalize on the demand.  He convinced Chris Harano (CEO)- and they did.

They still don’t have EPA disinfectant approval or claim its effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2  (that takes time and paperwork), but they are shipping their Accel Clean with Hydrogen Peroxide.  And, now expect it to be their primary business- at least until fracking returns as a business opportunity.

So, what’s your excuse.  Get crackin’!

 

 

[inplayer id=”104059″]