Our ability to accept the surreal, adapt and keep moving forward, is a fantastic human quality right now.

Upon collecting my dad's prescription yesterday, I was surprised how easy it was for me to accept something that just 6 weeks ago would have seemed so out of the norm, so unimaginable, something positively dystopian.

The doctor's surgery had locked their doors and erected a barrier outside: "do not cross."

People quietly queued 2 metres apart, without fuss or complaint. Each waiting for their chance to yell from behind the barrier, through the locked door, to the doctor's receptionist on the other side.

Most people were collecting prescriptions. As each of us took it in turns to shout out our names and our medical needs (so they could be heard through the glass door) - patient confidentiality was not really on anyone's mind.

No one explained the new system. Each person entering the doctor's car park joined the back of the queue, observed, and quietly adapted accordingly.

This system could be described as crude. It could also be described as innovative and highly effective.

As the receptionist authorised people to cross the barrier, she passed their prescription through the paper-thin gap in the closed door, wearing protective gloves for both her safety and the safety of the patient.

When we were all having our Christmas lunch, just a few months ago, nobody could have imagined the changes that we would be currently facing. 

Despite everything, businesses and employees are adapting to the surreal and moving forward. 

The way we interact with our clients, our teams, our suppliers, the way we shop for bread and milk or even how we exercise - everything has changed, and everyone has needed to innovate and adapt. 

I wonder how you are adapting to the surreal?

Managing a small business during the Corona Virus outbreak:

A tap has been turned off, in the blink of an eye - all revenue is falling away. This is the experience of many small businesses, mine included.

We know that the taps will be open again, but we don't know when. Most of us, who have battled on through the Credit Crunch, Great Recession and Brexit uncertainty have little or no reserve. We are the JAM's of the business world (Just about Managing).

The government knows that with the taps closed, the death of many businesses is imminent. Their response is to offer us bottled water, to keep us going. With bottled water you cannot bathe your children, wash your clothes or even shower yourself, but... you can survive.

With bottled water and determination, we can hold out until the taps switch on again. Even when you switch a tap off, a few drops will still flow. In this difficult time, I still have hope for the future.

By keeping positive, adapting our services and evolving the way we work, we can survive. Talk to customers, understand their challenges. Working from home can be isolating and lonely, they may not be able to buy your services right now - but they will appreciate your time. They will appreciate your effort.

My final thought for today - Pick up the phone, where possible and talk. Talk to clients, suppliers, staff - keep talking, keep sharing and find ways to support one another.

Positivity and Productivity

Positivity and Productivity - the only solutions to recovery of the economy.
Advice to businesses large and small on how to proceed in dark times.

When making a statement about the economy in January, Business Minister Baroness Vadera was ridiculed for acknowledging on ITV news that she had seen ‘a few green shoots of recovery’.
Is keeping a positive mindset in such bleak times worthy of ridicule? Surely such negative criticism is, in part, responsible for the country’s current predicament, and a positive, productive mindset is the only way to make a speedy recovery!

For businesses that are having difficulty covering their expenses, as a result are making redundancies and are ultimately having to scale back to revert to core products, there can seem to be no silver lining to this dark and seemingly endless economic cloud. How then, should they go about survival and (dare I say it) growth?

Are small and medium businesses doing enough to seek out those silver linings?

Business leaders and companies who remain positive, who seek out new innovations and increased efficiencies will be the companies leading the charge to economic recovery and sustained future growth. This does not mean companies should not be looking at their costs, making cuts where required and battening down the hatches where appropriate, but far too many companies are burying their heads in the sand and consolidating instead of expanding.

There is not a business in the world that could not increase its efficiency, work in a more productive way or create even better value for their customers. Yes, there are some businesses that simply cannot get the funds to make the improvements required or are in markets with terminal decline, but the majority of directors and business owners can use the recession to make their business more robust, more efficient and a leaner, stronger, more viable machine. You don’t always need to reinvent the wheel, just keep actively looking for opportunities to improve!
You might be surprised how your perception of the current economy and your businesses future prospects will change.

My key tips:

Don’t stop innovating.

Always encourage your team to make suggestions for efficiency improvements. After all, they are the individuals who experience the pros and cons of your business on a daily basis.

Don’t make “nickel and dime” savings to the detriment of your business’s long term prospects, they may well result in false economies.

Use to your advantage the additional flexibility that small and medium businesses have over their larger rivals.

Difficult decisions need to be made, don’t put them off or ignore them – Make them today.

One thing is a certainty; the economic recession will come to an end! Remain positive and continue to innovate... This surely is the road to helping your green shoot grow into an oasis of business opportunity.