If the original lockdowns of 2020 are an indicator of business after lockdown, the question isn’t “how to survive after lockdown”, but more critically “how to survive the lockdown you currently find yourself in, and inevitably, the next lockdown”.
We are not in a recession as such, we are however in a “restriction”, which means that if you are restricted from trading and sales are down (sometimes catastrophically), once these restrictions ease, we are seeing businesses (especially in our industry) rebound very quickly.
So, I will offer some rules that have served me well over the past several decades from starting, buying, building, and selling businesses, to surviving a global financial crisis, major industry disruptions, fierce competition, debilitating international currency fluctuations, a tornado that destroyed our office & warehouse, and now a pandemic!
Business is like a gladiator sport and invariably we will all face more than one COVID sized calamity in our lifetime and there won’t always be government support. Survival is an obvious prerequisite to facing another day and following are my rules for surviving and thriving during the difficult times, especially when others around you are giving up.
Rule 1
Take Charge! I wanted to say take responsibility but thought that might trigger a negative response in some readers. “I’m not responsible for COVID, I can’t be responsible for the government’s decision to lock us down!” Well to take charge of your business and your life you need to take responsibility for how you respond to any given situation and blaming others doesn’t help you. Remember, nobody ever wins a blame game. So, of course you’re not at fault in this situation and you aren’t responsible for this pandemic, but you are the only one that can respond to the events. If you wait for someone else, wait for government support, or wait until the virus ends, you could be waiting a long time, not to mention, waiting longer than you can afford to wait.
Rule 2
Know your compelling Competitive Advantage. If you want to survive in business, you absolutely need to offer your clients something that nobody else can. This point is critical even when we’re not experiencing a crisis. When times are good and business is flowing in easily, that is when industries can get ultra-competitive, and it is someone else doing it better than you that cripples your business. So really knowing what it is that you can do that none of your competitors can is the key to making your business invincible.
Rule 3
Ensure you have a Profitable Business Model. I am absolutely baffled that so many business owners don’t know how much profit they make on each treatment, on each retail sale or over any given period. They don’t know what their break-even point is, and they haven’t given serious thought to how they should price treatments so that they can actually make some money. Your ability to earn a profit and retain a portion of those earnings so that you can survive tough times is critical. Imagine being profitable enough to weather the invariable storms that arise and being able to take care of the people around you when they do.
Rule 4
Take care of your team. That brings me to my next rule, which is to take good care of your team. This doesn’t necessarily mean paying them when you can’t afford to or putting their needs before your own and/or the customer’s needs, but it does mean understanding their needs and working towards ensuring that you and the workplace are set up to meet their needs. One thing is certain, if you want to attract amazing talent and retain your top employees for many years, you must create an environment that supports them to reach their goals.
Rule 5
Develop Effective Marketing and Sales Processes. This involves testing and measuring what you do and refining your processes. So many salons, spa and clinic owners throw their marketing efforts at the wall and hope something sticks. You cannot approach marketing or sales processes like this and expect to get results, especially during challenging times. If you understand your clients and you know what their top skin concerns are, you should always be addressing those concerns and make it convenient for them to buy from you. Your clients trust and respect your knowledge, so the only thing getting in the way of them buying from you is friction. Ensure you are working on reducing that friction at all times.
Rule 6
Be prepared for tomorrow. Like I said earlier, this isn’t the last time we will be faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge. Some experts say that this is just a dress rehearsal for the real pandemic! I know that sounds negative, but I like to be prepared, and the next challenge might not be a pandemic but could be equally as damaging. The difference between the businesses that don’t survive and the businesses that thrive will come down to preparation.
There are no magic bullets in the above-mentioned rules for succeeding in business, but skip any one of them and you will struggle more than you need to. If you follow these rules, they will provide you with your best chance at success, no matter what is going on around you.
