Part 4: Reinvent Your Business Model to Thrive Post COVID-19

The Financial “Survive and Thrive” Plan for Entrepreneurs: COVID-19

Think back to the biggest growth times in your life.

Did those happen when times were calm and easy, or did you grow the most when things were tough and you made it to the other side? Today’s article will look at ways to reinvent your business model in these difficult times to grow and thrive when things settle back down to normal.

If you missed it, this is the fourth installment of the Financial “Survive and Thrive” Plan for Entrepreneurs: COVID-19. You can find the three previous installments via hyperlink below:

• Part 1: Figure Out Your New Normal
• Part 2: Creative Ways of Reducing Your Costs That You Might Not Have Thought Of
• Part 3: Increase Sources of Funding

These are meant to build on each previous article, so if you haven’t read then, it’s a good idea to have a look at those first.

Reinvent your business model

Amidst the chaos, there is a huge opportunity to either reinvent, or at least tweak, your business model. It’s time to examine everything you do and see if you can use this difficult time to create positive change.

1. Pivot or Add Alternate Revenue Sources. Is there a pivot that would make sense for the business that you’ve been afraid or too busy to try? If you’ve been close to the edge for a while, you may not have had the space or capacity to try something you think could be game-changing for your business. You’ve been stuck between hanging on (which is taking all your time and energy) and wanting to make a shift. Maybe this is the time? Maybe with your current customers falling away, it’s removing the limitation of being “stuck” in your business. The flip side? You’re out of excuses and now you have to really get after it!

2. (Re)build your culture. Ask your employees for ideas. It’s amazing how many stories I’ve heard from entrepreneurs whose businesses changed dramatically because of ideas shared by employees. It’s a tough time for everyone and your employees are very keen on your success, now more than ever. Getting the staff involved in the solutions might be the best way to elevate culture in tough times.

It’s also a good time to look at retraining, especially customers facing staff. How do you want them to outwardly communicate during this time (and in the future)? How should they be handling customer objections?

3. Outsource for today and the future. Now is a great time to see what parts of your business you can outsource to experts. A few reasons to think hard about this:

a. You can focus totally on your core business while the experts handle the support functions of your business (which is their core focus). Stop trying to be an expert in every function of your business and just focus on the part your customers care most about (i.e. the parts they pay for).

b. React faster with a shorter termination notice period if you need to trim even more because the crisis is longer than you expect.

c. Reduce the overall costs, even if the hourly rate is higher. No vacation, benefits, sick time, computers, phones, onboarding, etc. etc. The right experts take less hours (at their higher rate) to fulfill a required support function and are totally self-managing (so you don’t have to manage them).Obvious suspects include outsourcing your accounting, marketing, admin support, research projects, design work, sales cold-calling, etc. There might even be opportunities to look for temporary discounted rates due to COVID-19, so don’t be afraid to ask what these service providers might be able to offer in the interim.

4. Go remote for the long-term. There is a ton of content circulating right now on how to go remote and what best practices to put in place, so I won’t go into it here. My suggestion is to challenge the idea of going back to a standard office and instead to explore staying remote (or at least moving to a partially remote environment) . I am fortunate that I built my business to be remote from the beginning and am happy I did, even without the pandemic and stay home order.

Going remote has the potential to dramatically reduce overhead costs, not to mention mental clutter. Imagine life with no head office costs. No worrying if you’ve bought the right coffee. No stress about buying stand-up vs. sit down desks. No office renos. No parking issues. No stationary room. Etc. Etc.

5. Automate and streamline. If your sales decrease for a period of time, it’s probably the best time to automate and streamline your operation. Look at all your procedures and processes to see where you can make yourself more efficient. No doubt there have been things in your business what have been annoying you for years. Go fix it while it’s slow so when business picks up again, you’ll be ready to fly (and likely improve your margin!)

6. Challenge the Status Quo. When my niece was 5, she asked “why?” about absolutely everything. Try acting like a 5 year old for a day (no, I don’t mean crying in the corner sucking your thumb, even if that’s what you want to do right now). I mean ask why about everything. Why do we operate this way? What is that report for? Why do we send this document to our customers? When pulling on the why string, you might find some changes you can bring to the business to set yourself up for success on the rebound. Some might be small, but don’t be surprised if a major revelation comes from the exercise. I like the “ask why 5 times” rule. Keep asking why until you’re satisfied with the explanation as to why something is/isn’t done or until you’re convinced that the status quo needs to change.

7. Alliances and Mergers. You might cringe at the thought of it. Perhaps looking at your competitors right now is your best chance for success. Do you have friendly competitors that you could create an alliance with to weather the storm? Can you share overhead resources like a receptionist or admin assistants? Or, could you even contemplate a merger. Mergers could be with a competitor or a vertical play with suppliers or customers. Yes, there are a lot of logistics to consider and you want to be sure it’s done properly, you’re appropriately protected, and each party is acting with the best intentions for all. But, if things look desperate, merging two companies and eliminating a bunch of overhead might be what you need to “Survive to Thrive”.

8. Industry and Other Associations. Take a look at what your industry associations are doing. With so many companies struggling, organizations everywhere are scrambling to figure out how to save businesses. Your industry association might be offering exactly what you need. Anything from ideas to forums to leads. They are also a great way to stay current with announcements like government funding and opportunities. I’m a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization and I’m getting updates as they occur (like when government funding is available) from other members of the organization in informal chat groups. It’s tough to make it through if you’re flying solo. Get with an industry or other supportive association.

It’s often hard to see opportunity when things feel like they are crumbling around you. But like every other challenge you’ve faced in your life, you’ve come out the other side better, stronger and faster. This is no different. Even if your business can’t sustain itself during these times, you still have the opportunity to grow and thrive in the future.

That’s the focus of tomorrow’s post: Part 5: A New World, setting yourself up for success in the post-COVID era.