Strategem | When life gives you lemons

Sometimes all we need is a little forced change.

How many of you have tried something new in your business since the COVID19-outbreak? And how many of these things have you been thinking about for awhile, but just hadn’t found the time, or motivation to implement?

TheCOVID-19 pandemic has proven to be one of the biggest economic crisis that our nation has ever faced. Within weeks of the virus hitting our shores, borders were closed, businesses forced to shut, people movements restricted and thousands of Australians were unemployed.

The outbreak pushed us into new territory. It threw us out of our comfort zones and forced-us to really take a step back and think outside the box – and we needed to act fast.

But has it been all doom and gloom for businesses?

For many, the unprecedented change has been unavoidable. The restrictions put in place by Government have made it almost impossible to continue providing services and make a profit.

But have we heard about the many small businesses who took this opportunity to implement forced change within their business?

The cafes and restaurants who turned to takeaway and delivery options, the service-based businesses who took their services online through Zoom appointments, the industries who couldn’t provide face to face service, but instead started educating people online.

Many of these businesses have been thrown into this situation but the reality is a number of them would have already been considering taking these steps to grow their business. All it took was a little forced action to pass the line.

For us at Strategem, we’ve seen a variety of aspects improved within the business since the isolation lockdown hit. We’ve been compelled to take our client appointments online. And guess what, our clients love the option of engaging with our tax accountants and financial advisors in their appointment without needing to leave their homes.

We’veramped up our communication to our clients, both in the form of email updatesas well as live online webinars. Both of which have received positive feedback and the encouragement we needed to embed these as part of our regular practices.

Internally, we took our in person yoga classes and held them via Zoom. In doing this, we helped a small business take the plunge and transition her business to offer online classes.

Sometimes all you need is a little push. A push out of your comfort zone that adds a little sense of urgency and motivates you to take action. You might surprise yourself with what you can achieve.