Setting the reset button to deal with uncertain times

A good proportion of business’s we speak to and work with, have been busier than ever over the course of this last year. This is the case despite facing tricky capacity and safeguarding challenges onsite, managing increasingly difficult supply chain issues and seeing price increases in raw materials or finished goods. Equally, there are plenty of businesses that have had very challenging market conditions to contend with as well.

Whichever camp your business is in we will all face challenging trading conditions for some time and dealing with this uncertainty is now an everyday part of any business’s agenda. In these circumstances, it is important you take the time to reflect and re-visit your core principles and priorities.

The best way of doing this is to ask yourself several questions relating to your business.

• Will our customer’s priorities have changed?
• What will this mean for demand for what we sell?
• Do we need to adapt or pivot to target different markets?
• Are the areas we’d previously targeted for growth still valid?
• Is our product still relevant or do we need to refocus/reconfigure our offer/product?
• What will this mean for how we operate as a business?

The answers to these questions will help you assess if your current business priorities and approach are still valid, or whether you need to look at ways to be agile and adapt to the world as it is now, and in the future.

Ultimately your ability to recover and grow will depend on being able to adapt to what’s needed now and do it more quickly and effectively than your competitors.

To break this down further ask yourself;

• Who are your target customers now?
• Will what you offer be attractive to them?
• Is your price point still right for the market and does it reflect any cost increase you have incurred?
• What are your points of differentiation from your competitors and how effective are they?

Ultimately, the success of any business comes down to a combination of core factors;

• Your market offer is needed by your potential customers.
• Your customers perceive you offer the right quality at the right price.
• You are seen as a reliable supplier of the goods and services that you offer.

So, during these uncertain times, now is a good time to revisit these core factors for your business – change is inevitable, the choice is whether to drive it or respond to it.

Our team at BHP Consulting have all successfully run businesses, and we understand that every business is unique. Our practical approach to supporting our clients enables us to share our real-world experience to positively impact on the performance of your business. To arrange a call or an exploratory face-to-face meeting, please click here.