So far, 2020 has been a year like no other. While we have experienced economic uncertainty in the past, our lives and businesses have been disrupted like never before during the Coronavirus pandemic. Most businesses have had to adapt to cope with the daily challenges COVID has presented.
Not only have we had to overcome the business and economic challenges but also the restrictions on our daily lives has been a tough one for many of us to get our heads around. We have all seen so many changes to the way we do business in the last few months, from setting up employees to work from home to making the difficult decision to furlough staff.
It’s not surprising that for many businesses revenue streams may have taken a hit or in some industries such as Leisure and Hospitality come to a grinding halt.
With the staggered returns of your teams, the temptation may be to put your business plans for quarter 3 and the second half of 2020 to one side, but implementing a realistic business plan for the second half of the year is crucial to helping your business thrive and survive.
While the new normal may not quite be ‘business as usual’, this highlights the need for you not continue to plan how you run your business as running a business without a plan can be a recipe for disaster. So, how can you plan for Q3 of 2020? Let’s take a look at some key factors you may want to include.
Amend, don’t discard
The revenue and growth forecasts and targets you set at the beginning of the year are now unlikely, but that doesn’t mean you have to discard your plans. Instead, consider how you can amend your business plan to reset your targets and forecasts to more pragmatic levels.
Of course, the initial objectives will relate to cashflow and exceeding your renegotiated cost base. Use the data available from Q2 to predict the likely outcomes in Q3 and beyond to help you gain a clearer understanding of your revenue.
Focus on your core business proposition
Now more than ever, it’s vital that you focus on your core business proposition. Consider what is your core business, how you deliver it, who your customers are and why it is your core business proposition?
Refreshing yourself and your team with this information can help refocus your business on what it does primarily and what it does well. If it’s been a while since you reviewed it, you may find you’ll gain some valuable insights into how you can improve and grow. It’s easy in business to forget what your core business is or to become complacent with how you deliver it.
Identifying your key strengths and market differentiators can help you plan ahead for the second half of 2020 and beyond to ensure your business thrives. Consider if there are any cost savings to be made or if you could improve and optimise operations.
Remember your priority is to increase the ‘Top Line’ revenues rather than to continue cutting costs. This should include investing in your current Talent (including the senior management team) with training and development to maximise the increasing potential in your markets. You will be able to measure the ROI from the budget you allocate to external consultancy and bespoke training.
Providing an honest, professional and consultative service to our candidates and clients is the cornerstone of successful recruiters and the business overall. We need to advise candidates clearly on what we can and will do on their behalf, but we can’t place everyone and must focus on taking those candidates better suited to our clients and roles.
Prioritise your most fillable roles and use the time and resources potentially ‘wasted’ on those roles you’re unlikely to fill, on taking your ‘better’ candidates to your target markets to build revenues pipelines with higher probable fill-rates.
For those candidates looking for a new role, your focus should be on preparing and presenting yourself to recruiters and to your potential new employers, as the better prospect for your target roles, employers and sector. Focus on and improve your core skills that add value and take advice on how to be best prepared to demonstrate them whether online or in person.
Set SMART objectives to a timeline
One of the main purposes of your business plan is to set objectives that you want to achieve and detail the strategy you will take to meet them. One of the most well-known objective setting processes is SMART objectives.
These are objectives that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-sensitive. Using a framework such as SMART objectives provides a clear path for setting and achieving your objectives and can help keep you and your team motivated and focussed.
If you have a clear plan of where you want your business to be at the end of the year and a plan for how you will achieve it, you are more likely to succeed.
