Take the momentum, energy, and urgency that was put into business survival during the pandemic, and use it to grow as we move forward out of the pandemic.
To date, businesses have focused on surviving. Temporary solutions and workarounds have been put in place, enabling businesses to operate and serve customers as best as possible. These changes range from building out remote working capabilities and increasing the capacity to serve customers digitally to offering socially distanced curbside pickup and do-it-yourself restaurant meals at home – all implemented to enable ongoing business operation.
While previously, companies may have held back on the spending required to push into further digitization, upgrade internal operations, expand their product offering, or move into new markets, the pandemic has forced companies to pivot and do just this to maintain revenues, decrease costs, and survive.
This pivot has now reached a crucial juncture, where firms can either fail, survive, or thrive. Some businesses will reduce momentum from the frenzied pace of change with which they scrambled to revamp operations in the early stages of the pandemic and return to a more normal ‘business as usual’ pace. Opportunities exist, however, for other businesses that choose instead to capitalize on the current changing landscape and internal momentum of change already in place.
One of the major issues with change is few people like it - staff are wary of it, and the effort involved is high for management. During this pandemic, however, everyone understands its necessity and major changes are already underway. This momentum is what businesses should continue not just to preserve but also build on, setting themselves up for future growth as they consider longer-lasting, structural reforms, investments, and changes to ways of working to better address growth in the post-pandemic world.
This decision is not one that can be made on the fly. It can potentially lead to significant investment requirements and major changes to operations. However, the upside is significant. Organizations can use this time, when the economy is still weak and most are focused on returning to normal, to continue pushing their evolution and adapting to better fit in the new post-pandemic marketplace. In so doing, they can potentially leapfrog competitors as they do so.