–By Anita Rao
March 2020 will remain etched in the memory of all Entrepreneurs forever, as COVID 19 pandemic threw the biggest possible spanner on our hopes and dreams, as most nations declared lockdown as an antidote to the raging disease, for which there is still no cure or vaccine.
It flattened the business curve, which in any case was struggling due to the preceding economic slowdown. Lost opportunities, economic setback, piling up of debts, rampant unemployment became the order of the day. When big business houses were gasping for breath, where did all this leave the small business owners, especially the women entrepreneurs, who were making a reasonable contribution to our GDP? They are the worst hit category – after all most of them were never ‘ atmanirbhar’ in the first place!
However, the silver lining in the dark clouds is that all is still not lost. The uncertain time only calls for a cautious approach to business and money management.
Read on a few gags to hold up against the slowdown:
- Take a micro and macro view of the whole situation and arrive at a conclusion that is the most optimum for your business. Be proactive, just don’t give up, but evaluate your expenses to get a grip back on your business.
- Focus on ‘from where your money comes and where the money goes’. Decide on which part of your expenses you can prune down upon and what would be your monthly expenses and essential spending.
- In case a new project is eating into your funds assess their importance and functions before investing- slashing unnecessary expenditure will be the wisest thing to do in the present circumstances.
- Your revival story will largely depend upon how tech-savvy is your business. Since digitalization is the future of business, make all efforts to enable it into your business.
- Look for newer and more economical sourcing, logistics, and distribution models.
- Go for collaboration/partnership-after all two brains are better than one, any day!
- Create Sop’s for all function across your business, so that there is greater functional clarity for everyone
- Keep all hiring plans in the backburner as the most prudent thing to do would be to keep your salary expenditure to the minimum.
- Invest in personal brand building by upskilling yourself. Reenergize, learn a new skill, research on your product/service, and think of some innovative marketing ways.
- Finally, remember that difficult times do not remain forever.