Can we take away any positives from 2020? By Helen Fleet

2020 …WHAT….A ….YEAR!! It’s unlikely that anyone will walk away from this year without feeling bruised in some way. With positive news on the vaccine and the real hope of normality in 2021, it’s time to think about the positives we can take away from what was a year like no other.

What did our clients learn?

No denying those initial weeks back in March were hard but our clients shook themselves down and battled on. During those dark months, they learnt the following…
 

Client Mix

Some clients found they were too reliant on a small number of clients. They had always known this was a risk, but they believed good service in normal times would keep that work secure. The pandemic took this out of their control and one lost client had a significant impact on their business.
Lesson Learnt –
Build a wider client base and monitor reliance on larger clients.
 

Efficiency

With staff furloughed they found new and more efficient ways of working. For some clients that has meant making redundancies but, in the knowledge, they can build a stronger more efficient business as they grow again.
Lesson Learnt –
Regularly review how we deliver our service and if we could do it better.
 

Overheads

It’s easy for overheads to build as you grow your business without checking if you still need them, what level is needed and if you are getting value for money. Of course, property costs are the most obvious with people moving from large offices to hybrid homeworking and smaller spaces. Our clients reviewed everything from marketing spend to IT support to ensure they were as lean as possible.
Lesson Learnt –
Set a regular timescale to review overheads and ensure we are getting value for money.
 

Cashflow

No-one foresaw the significant loss of business in such a short space of time that we did. Whilst some clients had reserves others did not. The various government initiatives helped several clients through this period, but it has focussed their mind on what they feel is a minimum cash balance.
Lesson Learnt –
Know your monthly income required to remain cash neutral. Build a plan to retain three (or your choice) months’ worth of overheads in cash.

Personal Traits

Several our clients recognized new traits in themselves. Personally, I realized I was calm in a crisis and through all our updates had an ability to make the complex simple.
We can all take this new awareness and build on it to help us personally and professionally.
 

What are your positives?

Reflecting on this, think about the following questions. What can you do with the answers to make your business perform better in 2021?
Consider:

• What do you know about your business that you didn’t before?
• Do you know what doesn’t work for your business?
• Have you seen any efficiency improvements?
• Do you need to expand your service offering?
• Do you need to build a broader client base?
• What positives can you take away from how you personally reacted to this year?

More about Helen Fleet

Helen Fleet of HF Financial Strategy works as a finance director and guides companies to delivering their financial and business objectives which can include cashflow planning, pricing reviews and ways to improve profitability.
If you’d like to know more about Helen, visit her website here or follow her on LinkedIn.