Optimism among business owners was high coming into 2022. But a number of factors are now making things a lot more challenging:
- Global events are pushing up energy prices to astronomical levels.
- Ongoing supply-chain issues are making it difficult to source raw materials.
- A scarcity of talent is causing problems when it comes to staffing and hiring.
- Covid is still around and making trading more complex and difficult.
Faced with these hurdles, you might feel that your goals are no longer attainable. But is this true? Growth is likely to be a challenge, but not impossible.
5 steps for meeting your goals during a slowdown
Moving forward during a period of economic recession is certainly more of a challenge. But what’s needed is an updated plan with awareness of the major external threats.
Here are five steps to set you on the right path:
- Revisit your goals and see how realistic they are – look at the numbers and make a call on whether they still make sense in the current business market. If necessary, update your goals and make them challenging. But, importantly, make any goals attainable during a time when cash and resources are in short supply.
- Get the best possible understanding of your financial position – take a deep-dive into your finances and see how you’re tracking against your budgets and targets. How is your cashflow looking? Do you have enough working capital to fund your growth? If additional funding is needed, where could it come from?
- Decide if you have the right team for the job – Whatever your key goals, you need talented people on board who share your core aims for the business. Think about whether you have the team you need, or if there’s a pressing need to hire new people. And consider if artificial intelligence (AI) and automation could fill some of the resourcing gaps and help you scale up.
- Assess the current situation in your sector – You can’t change the big external threats in your industry. But you can do your homework and find out what the immediate threats will be. Are there supply chain issues? Are prices going sky high? Get up to speed and look for ways to minimise the impact and rise to the top of the crop.
- Update your plan – once you’ve looked over your numbers, goals and strategy, you’re likely to need an updated business plan. Factor in the threats, set meaningful goals, but give your company a target that’s realistic during a global slowdown. Successful small steps towards a goal are better than one giant leap; a leap where you may land flat on your face.
Talk to us about your goal-setting for this year and beyond
The sooner you start revisiting your goals and business plan, the better prepared your company will be for the ups and downs of a recession. Come and talk to us about your financial position, your core strategy and your concerns about the next six to twelve months.
We’ll help you set practical, attainable goals that will push your business forward.
This post was originally written by BOMA and has been updated to make it more personal.
