Leading Through Uncertainty: How strong business foundations help.

Managing your business in uncertain times: 9 areas of focus for great leadership.

A few businesses are thriving and a few are abandoning ship.  Most businesses, however, are somewhere in-between. The difference between the thriving businesses and the “in-betweeners” is not as great as people imagine and changing the fortune of your business can require some simple shifts in behaviour that can dramatically change the outcome.

Successful businesses thrive in uncertain times because they are able to adapt and pivot rapidly. So rapidly, that they seem to be able to predict the future.

It comes down to foundations. Thriving businesses have solid foundations, their backstage,  on which they build their plans and strategies. Because they have strong foundations, they can be flexible and can adapt. They never stop reflecting on their performance, their front stage, learning from the experience and adjusting what they do next.

You don’t have to be a big business to have strong foundations. And having strong foundations does not mean that you can’t change direction. In fact the stronger your foundations, the quicker you can adapt.

Your business foundations are not made of bricks and mortar, they are built with your mindset, your behaviour, your values, your beliefs and how you communicate them and your relationships. They evolve into the culture and organisational intelligence that is your business.

When you have strong clear foundations, your view of the world changes and that’s when you can see the opportunity in uncertainty.

The reality of life is that everything is uncertain. We can’t predict the future because there are too many variables. However, we can improve our perception of the environment around us so that we can detect minuscule changes before anyone else knows something is afoot.

When you have a well prepared backstage, from the outside, it looks like you can predict the future.

This pandemic has demonstrated very clearly that we live in uncertain times and your success or failure is not just reliant on you. Your suppliers still need to be able to supply you and your customers still need to be able to buy from you. Your business is part of a complex interconnected ecosystem where everything is connected and influenced by everything in the ecosystem.

Your perception of the circumstances surrounding your supply chain and your customers is what will enable you to adapt and pivot your business. What state will your suppliers and customers be in after 1 month, 3 months, 12 months? 

Business Intelligence Framework

The question, therefore, is how can you improve your perception of your market niche? How can you improve your business intelligence? What can you measure?

Factual – Use data, not guesswork, supposition or assumptions. If you need to make decisions make sure that you know the current REALITY and not some massaged form of it. Check your sources to make sure that they are accurate and reliable. If possible confirm one source of data with another.

Clarity of thought – Have a clear picture in your mind of the outcome you want to achieve, the less clarity the higher the possibility of failure. Once you are clear about the direction you are going, focus on gathering intelligence for that journey. Go deep and get an understanding of everything happening in your market.

Courage – Dealing with potential doom and gloom or even raging success can be frightening. (Yes as many people fear success as do failure). Don’t let F.E.A.R, False Evidence Appearing Real derail you. You need to know how to interpret the voice in your head, your Lizard Brain. Know what you stand for and hold your position. Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the ability to recognise that you are fearful and continue to act.

Honesty – internally and externally even to the point of transparency. The worst thing a business can do is rely on “spin” to cover over the cracks. Your customers, suppliers, stakeholders all know what’s going on, so trying to “fake it” will not work. 

What are the foundations for a successful business?

To give your business the best chance of emerging from this extraordinary world we are currently experiencing, there are some core foundations that you must focus on:

• Getting your message right – even if your business is booming and more in demand than ever, you will need to reconsider how your customers’ wants and needs and how they value you have changed? Your message from 6 months ago may be out of touch, irrelevant or even damaging.
• Your Offer – knowing how your customers’ wants and needs have changed will enable you to adjust your offer to better suit their demands today. Do you need to change how you deliver your product, service or experience and are there new opportunities that arise from that change?
• Customer Intelligence – businesses that assume that their customers’ requirements have not changed are reckless. Businesses that assume that their customers’ motivations have not changed are arrogant. Deepening your understanding of the emotional state of your customers is a vital exercise for keeping abreast of the changes in your market niche.  Assuming that your niche has changed the same way as other niches, is risky.
• Cash flow – how many things have changed that could affect your cash flow on a daily basis?  The list grows longer daily. Being sensitive to those changes ahead of time and preparing for different scenarios will enable you to be more flexible. Understanding the knock-on potential of different events outside of your control will be important. Making sure you are creating reserves is also critical.
• Service – be of service to your niche market. The businesses that have flourished throughout the pandemic have delivered exactly what their customers wanted. Serve, serve, serve and you will be rewarded.

There are no crystal balls out there. The doom-mongers and the optimists are all wrong to a degree. Over the coming months, we will find out how wrong.  You need to keep your finger on the pulse of your niche market. Get inside your customers’ head, really understand what they want and need and then deliver it. You need a well prepared backstage.

Be flexible, play the long game and make sure you have the reserves to weather the potential storms ahead. Plan for the worst, expect the worst and everything will be an upside.

Avoid being sucked in by the negative news, avoid succumbing to the F.E.A.R. (false evidence appearing real) and get accurate data, real evidence to use as your guide. Measure your progress towards your goals, reflect and learn from your experience, adjust your thinking, behaviour and processes accordingly and keep taking the next step.

Business is not exciting. For the most part, it is the repetition of simple tasks over and over again that, in the end, help you reach your goal.  When you reach the goal, that is where the excitement is, celebrate, and then be ready to return to the simple repetition of taking the next step towards the next goal.

Your business is unique because you created it. Comparing yourself to someone else is futile and can only lead to self-criticism. Observing how others operate can be useful BUT we only see their front stage, their performance. What you are unable to see is their backstage, the work they do to deliver their performance, to make their front stage work. To see someone’s backstage you first need to know what you are looking for. Click here to download the Front Stage/Back Stage Guide

Consider how prepared your backstage is and what you might need to address to help you build the business you have always dreamt of and have the abundance and vitality to live it.

Comment below and share the challenges you face building your backstage so that your front stage delivers the results you expect.