Planning for Future Business Disruptions
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life for nearly everyone. Almost every business had to react and modify what they were doing to stay operational. Restaurants needed to switch to takeout, medical and health services had to start doing more consultations and sessions virtually, countless people started working from home, and much more.
Now that health restrictions have eased in many areas, many businesses are going back to work. However, they’re not all doing it the way they did before and even those that have returned to business as usual can’t help but think about what the future may hold.
The pandemic has shown how quickly everything can change. Therefore, it’s important that companies plan for future business disruptions to limit the impact they may have. Here are some ways that an organization can prepare itself for future issues.
Identify Potential Disruptors
There’s no way that you’re going to be able to plan for every possible change, but it is still important to identify potential future issues. Think about possible scenarios that could disrupt your business and the impact they would have. This information can help you prepare for these changes.
Once you’ve thought about possible business disruptions, create step-by-step plans for dealing with them. This will let you hit the ground running when something occurs.
It’s okay to leave some generalities in your plan. While few could have predicted the COVID-19 pandemic, it could have been possible to plan for a health-related disruption or a situation where in-person work would be limited.
Develop Alternative Plans
There have been several impacts of the pandemic, and one of the most significant has been to the supply chain. Businesses have had a number of issues relating to production and getting the supplies they need.
As supply chains have become increasingly complex and increasingly global, the margin for error has gotten smaller. Even a relatively minor issue in a completely different country can result in significant delays.
As a business, it is important to develop alterative plans that can keep you operating if there was a significant supply chain issue.
It’s also important to have alternative plans in place for situations where in-person activities may be limited or where you don’t have access to your full team. The next health issue or disruption may look different than this pandemic, so you may not be able to rely on the same strategies you used in 2020.
Think of several alternative plans and develop these in detail so you can start implementing them effectively as soon as necessary.
Collaborate and Nurture a Strong Culture
Organizations that made it through the pandemic had strong leadership, good culture, and dedicated teams. That’s not to say that those that struggled did not have these aspects, but businesses had a better chance of surviving if they had a strong team and a strong culture.
Reward cooperation over competition and take steps to discourage information hording, If your team works well together, if they’re engaged, and if they care about overall organizational success (rather than just individual accomplishments) they’ll be willing and able to work together to solve complex problems and deal with business disruptions.
Use Expert Help
Working with experts in financial advisory and business development can help you recognize potential issues or disruptions within your organization and your industry at large. At Ralevic & Ralevic LLP, we conduct business valuations and financial modeling, gather information and analyze industries, help companies identify and manage risks, and much more. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us today.
