Far too many businesses, both franchised and not, have found the ground torn from under them as the pandemic took hold.
If you are one of those finding it hard, I’m setting out some ideas based on how we have been managing the pandemic. We have been incredibly fortunate, despite the trauma experienced by the restaurant industry at large. Camile Thai began the pandemic with a 30% hit to our sales – and we needed to find a way out of it. Through some hard work and clever thinking, we made it work.
1. Have an opportunity brainstorm.
In the immediate aftermath of the lockdown, a kind of shock pervaded the business world, and many were paralysed into inaction. But not everyone.
Some entrepreneurs have put their heads up, to think about what new business opportunities are presenting themselves. Every crisis gives rise to opportunity, and it’s possible your business could pivot into a new direction which didn’t exist before.
Restaurants that never did takeaway before doing takeaway now. Pubs delivering pints out of vans with beer taps fitted. Wine distributors selling cases to the home instead of to their restaurant clients. Get together with your team (if your business is really small, invite in some friends and colleagues) and brainstorm how you could change direction into a temporary or permanent new direction.
We then tested our new ideas as quickly as we could. This is a time for MVP’s – Minimum Viable Products – where you can get a prototype out to real customers before getting it perfect. The guys who put the beer taps into the back of the Van didn’t wait around to conduct research, or design the perfect looking van – they just got it out there, and got immediate feedback.
2. Be absolutely honest with yourself. Consider going into receivership and starting again.
Absolute honesty is necessary if you are to survive the next period. Avoid wishful thinking and hoping yourself into a better position. I read last week about one of our role model businesses in the U.K., Pret a Manger, who have reopened and are doing only 20% of the sales they were doing prior to lockdown. Pret needs to have a very honest look at their business, because no amount of wishful thinking is going to bring customers back before they are ready.
One unpalatable option is receivership. If your situation is so terrible that it can’t be turned around, maybe better to bite the bullet and start again, than to flog a dead horse.
You know best your own business. And as the old adage says, you can fool other people for a while, but you can’t fool yourself.
3. Make a one year plan.
It is all about the next 12 months. Survival. So why might you have long or medium term aspirations, if you don’t exist in 12 months time, they’re all academic.
Make a plan for the 4 key areas of your business – in fact the 4 key areas for all businesses – Finance, Marketing, Operations, People.
We know before you start the plan, that it won’t work out exactly, but that doesn’t matter. As you execute your plan and an aspect isn’t working, change it. Then change it again, and keep changing it until you get it right.
4. Where you can, cut costs immediately.
Preserving cash is the only way you can survive until things improve. Defer payments immediately if not already done so – you can figure out later how to pay the deferred amount back. The point here is that if your business is down, and you pay all your bills as due, you might not survive. Contracts across the business world will have to be renegotiated. You’re not alone bending your contracts now – if that’s what it takes to survive.
Cut any discretionary expenditure that you can. Subscriptions, consultancy, travel, bonuses etc. should all be up for grabs.
