Okay, so there has to be more income than expense…a given. Boring, but a given and I admit that.
Yet, the real deal for long-term success is creativity, an art-form if you will. Simply look at what influences have sprung up in just the past ten years to derail the complacent, make the comfortable uncomfortable and shrivel ordinarily steady profit structures.
The art is in finding solutions before your ship has sailed
That was not the case before Covid. Sure, business owners had to be aware of fluctuations in interest rates, competition from the new guy on the block and those mini-recessions that seem to appear every five to ten years, but those are all the expected headwinds of ‘business as usual.’
It’s not been usual lately, or haven’t you noticed?
Normal supply-lines have all gone to hell, chips are at a premium (when you can get them) and everything that runs, runs on chips. If your product doesn’t, those who move your product around the world are affected. Many workers got used to working from home during the pandemic and are reluctant to commute anymore, affecting everything from manufacturing to insurance. Speaking of insurance, if your company happens to be located in a flood, hurricane or forest-fire area, you may soon not be able to afford (or even get) coverage.
Delivery of everything made in China—and that may include some small part of what you produce—used to dependently arrive in four to six weeks. It now takes an average of three months because of some terrorist-types called Houthis, attacking any ship that does business with Israel.
There’s more—a lot more—but you get my drift
So, the creative businessman or woman is coming up with all kinds of solutions that go beyond an edict to show up at the office or lose your job. Labor, whether its white or blue collar, is increasingly in the driver’s seat when it comes to when, how and where they are willing to work.
It’s not going away.
If your business is renting space in downtown office buildings, you better be looking for alternative uses before your competition gets the jump on you.
A company car, day-care or flex-time to advance your education is no longer a perk. Working from home is the perk du jour.
Looking back, from ten years hence, solutions may seem obvious
Winners will have practiced the art of creativity in a new and dynamic business environment.
Those who thought it would all blow over may be left at the starting-gate and some will no longer exist.
