In a continually changing and expanding business climate, business owners, entrepreneurs, and managers are constantly looking for new and imaginative solutions to deal with dangers that threaten to destroy their companies. Growing a business includes finding solutions to difficulties that arise on a daily basis, such as defining your target market to boost income, finding qualified workers, maintaining effective business operations, and exceeding client expectations with limited resources. There are, however, non-routine problems to which organizations must respond; these might take the form of interruptions and have the potential to drastically alter a company's operations. Disruptions can be beneficial, especially if a company is designed to respond rather than react to rapid changes.
Every disruption results in some business "gaining" or "left behind." In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the industries that gained the most were those in the “essential” businesses: grocery stores and food production, pharmacies, health care, utilities, banking, law enforcement, and emergency personnel among others.
Most of the businesses that were left behind were more non-essential. This means that there will be more demand for essential commodities and services, and they will be overrun with demand, while non-essential ones will see severe slowdowns.
Disruptions can take the form of infrastructure changes that affect a company's physical location, supply chain shutdowns, the introduction of a competitor company into the market, regulatory changes, the act of God, and so on. Start-ups and even established enterprises have had to deal with disruptions caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, changes in government policies, rules, or laws, and technological advancements in recent years. Regardless of the disruptive model, organizations should be designed to anticipate, respond to, and thrive in the face of uncertainty.
The important strategic decision for non-essential firms is how to keep afloat until a new normal is formed. As a result, the initial task should be scenario planning. What will your expenditures and revenue be if the outage lasts a month, two months, three months, six months, or a year? What are the cuts you'll have to make? How can government funds be used to help disadvantaged employees? To avoid doing everything, seek assistance. What are you able to afford to keep doing? What measures will you use to determine which path is most likely? What metrics will you use to determine when it's time to make cuts?
Starting to figure out what the new normal will look like is a related strategic challenge. Some industries will make the transition from slow to fast development.
We believe businesses in telemedicine, e-learning, video conferencing, e-sports, home grocery delivery, and other industries to cross the chasm in this disruption as a result of the coronavirus. Other industries may have a hype curve, in which tremendous growth is experienced for a brief period, followed by a sharp decrease and stabilization at a lower level but above where it began. In addition, some industries will gradually return to their original state.
It's crucial to figure out which growth curve you're on so you can prepare for the rest of the year. The crystal ball phenomenon does not work in business. Business operations might be crippled by disruption, but firms should be proactive in ensuring that they are adaptable enough to meet any challenge given by such disturbances.
The following are some adaptation tips:
• Business Diversification- In a dynamic business environment, having a single product line may not be wise. In order to grow, start-ups might diversify their operations by offering different products/services to their target markets. Diversifying different segments of your primary operations is also vital. For example, having numerous supply chains, distinct customer communication channels, and different marketing techniques for different consumer segments may accomplish this.
• Business Model Reinvention: In order to access new markets, businesses must guarantee that their business models are adaptable and innovative. Reinventing your business could entail employing technology to communicate with your consumers and clients in order to broaden your reach or repackaging your items under multiple labels.
• Investigate the possibility of forming a partnership: Businesses might look into the possibility of forming a partnership to leverage each other’s strengths to overcome the devastation of the disruption.
References
https://www.msmehub.org/thriving-through-disruptions-tips-for-startups/
https://startupnation.com/grow-your-business/thrive-disrupted-market-conditions/
