9 STRATEGIES TO EMERGE STRONGER FROM THE PULLBACK … · owners through the pitfalls and joys of growing their business. Brad is a speaker and author. Brad is passionate about business

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9 STRATEGIES TO EMERGE STRONGER FROMTHE PULLBACK (AND THE BOUNCE BACK)

Since the COVID-19 shutdown started, I’ve spoken daily with business owners who are grappling with the impact that the coronavirus is having on their business.

We’ve talked about, not just the immediate impacts, but what it’s going to be like to lead your business through the rest of 2020 and into next year.

I’ve also studied what other experts are saying about these unprecedented times, like my colleagues, David C. Baker, Liston Witherill, Jonathan Stark, Joel Pilger, and Blair Enns.

In listening broadly to the experts, and to the business owners I’m in con-tact with, some key trends have emerged.

Some key trends have emerged about what is to come:

1. This is not easy for anyone. For some people, their business survival is in question.

2. It is going to get harder before it gets easier. It’s not ending quickly.3. We will get through this and there is opportunity amongst the challenge. 4. Most people I’ve spoken to just don’t know where to begin as things

change so quickly.



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2 Prepare for the pullback (and the bounce back) Checklist

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I’ve pulled together nine strategies for you to think about, three for each phase of this event.

• Three things to do now, during the shutdown.• Three things to help you to manage the transition to the “new normal.”• Three things to prepare for the eventual bounce back.

It’s my goal to see as many businesses as possible emerge from this crisis stronger than they were before. But to meet that goal we’ve got work to do!

Immediate, short term plans, during the shutdown.

1. Call your customers and everyone in your pipeline. Your goal is to understand where their priorities are now, and in the near future. What-ever their priorities were when you engaged with them last have likely changed. Find out where their head is right now and if there’s a way to serve them.

Bonus: Call all your past clients and lost proposals and do the same.

2. Ask yourself “How can you serve your market now?”. What do you hear about their priorities? What do they need? What are they spend-ing money on? How can you help?

This is not a long-term pivot for your business (yet), this is just looking for ways that you can serve the current, and urgent, needs of your clients, past clients, and prospects. This will keep you relevant to them and cash flowing in!

3. Collect any outstanding receivables. Money will get tighter going for-ward. Reach out on any receivables that are past due immediately and schedule payment. You need the cash in your account, and you might not be able to collect it later.

Let’s get started:

1. Get out the budget you made for 2020 and take a hard look at it. Start with your YTD actual P&L then project what you have booked for the rest of the year. Then plot out two scenarios: pessimistic and optimistic. Be pessimistic about what you have booked - some of that will go away. Then be optimistic about some of these lower-cost services that you now offer.

Need a starting place? Pessimistic is down 50% through the year-end. An optimistic forecast is down 20%.

Look realistically at both of those scenarios. How do you remain profit-able (or at least break-even) if things get worse?

Long-term; Building a plan for the rest of 2020



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1. Highlight your successes and try some new things. Are there new things you offered over the last few months that you could use as an example of your skills and abilities? Create case studies about some of the quick-wins you generated by serving clients at the start of the crisis. Evaluate if this is something you can scale.

2. Can you productize some of your services? Lower prices and lower commitment will be easier to sell once we open up, but we will still face a slow economy. How can you split apart the work you do into smaller chunks? Can you make the first couple of phases less “bespoke” so they can be sold like a productized service? Make it easy for prospects and clients to understand the results they will see, and the value you will produce for the price. (The more tangible, the better)

3. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of your team. The last 5-7 years have been a struggle to find talent -- now, like it or not, there’s going to be some great talent available for hire. Be truthful about the overall performance of each of your team members. What would an upgrade look like? You might be able to get an excellent person to add to, or upgrade, your team as things start to get going again.

Medium-term, once things start to open up again.



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2. Stay focused on cash. Look at cash flow every two weeks and stay on top of receivables through the rest of this year. This is critical, even if you are sitting on a healthy cash cushion! You should not rest on that; you might want to use that cash to accelerate growth once things bounce back.

Be diligent about making good decisions with your cash.

3. Refocus on the clients you most want to serve. In every industry, there will be winners and losers. Who are the winners in the industry you serve? Who are the leaders making the right moves? Align yourself with those companies. What do they need?

If you have questions about these strategies or want to discuss how they apply to your firm, shoot me an email at [email protected] and we can talk. Seriously - I want to help and I read every email I get.

https://anchoradvisors.com/speaking/ http://enmast.com/brad-farris

As Principal Advisor, Brad Farris guides business owners through the pitfalls and joys of growing their business. Brad is a speaker and author. Brad is passionate about business and helping business owners find better ways to do things, make more money and enjoy life more.

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9 STRATEGIES TO EMERGE STRONGER FROM THE PULLBACK … · owners through the pitfalls and joys of growing their business. Brad is a speaker and author. Brad is passionate about business