Do you have a viable strategy for cash flow management? There was no business playbook when coronavirus arrived. Coronavirus has proven to be challenging for every business person, and the ability for leadership to manage cash flow is more important than ever before.
We can use all of the industry data and expertise available to predict what’s coming next, but we can’t foresee something like a pandemic. Let’s shut down the world in 2020? Impossible! You could not have predicted what would happen in 2020. Shut down the world? Can’t happen?
When the coronavirus outbreak first took hold, businesses’ confidence nosedived, markets collapsed and there was great uncertainty in every sector of the economy. Supply of necessities was in question, and business everywhere scrambled to “pivot”. Business leaders had no way of knowing whether their business would survive the storm or not.
Cash flow management is especially important whether you are just a starting out or a veteran in business. Experiencing lower levels of available working capital will send you to extreme ways of finding resources. On the other hand, having plenty of working capital allows you to invest in greater resources, increase production and comfortably cover outgoings for a smooth cash flow.
Being proactive mitigates the impact
Making good and timely decisions is challenging at the best of times. Making decisions in times of crisis makes it even trickier, and when you have a crisis with the uncertainty of the outcome and prolonged duration of coronavirus, the impact decisions may seem overwhelming.
The coronavirus crisis has caused unprecedented disruption to the business world and people’s livelihoods. However, being proactive has helped mitigate the impact.
Hard decisions like deciding to focus rigorously on cash flow, including some tough early decisions on redundancies, helped many businesses stay afloat.
The skills, instincts and business style shown by business leadership leading up to 2020 are the ones that will carry them through.
They are a great base for getting through what’s set to be another hugely challenging period for all sectors as we approach the end of the year and head into 2021.
Blockchain as a solution
At the beginning of the year research & advisory firm Gartner listed Blockchain technology as one of the top 10 strategic technologies for the year 2020.
With so many companies focusing on cash flow and reducing costs, blockchain technology shows a good case for the future of this trend
The following stat about blockchain in the year 2020 will affect every businessman in the future, as more institutions and companies turn to the technology:
- Banks and financial institutions that use blockchain technology could reduce their costs on infrastructure up to 30%. (source)
- 20+ countries have researched the concept of a national cryptocurrency. (source)
- 9 out of 10 banks in North America and Europe were exploring trends of blockchain in 2018. (source)
- By the year 2025, more than half of various healthcare administrations will have made use of blockchain for various business operations. (source)
Can Blockchain build resilience into the economy?
The buzz word for this year is “resilience” – how resilient is your business and your leadership?
Resilience is as much a tool for surviving during crises as it is for thriving. However, no leader has ever led through a period in business like this before.
Given that uncertainty of the future, what are the trends going forward and what could you say has good potential for you to be looking at incorporating into your future strategy?
Is blockchain technology a good trend to follow and learn about? I believe it is, as our world financial system is showing cracks and needs a good overhaul. As blockchain puts for a good case for change and progress.
While things are still very hard for businesses, many are thinking “how” they’ll look to regain control and start making crucial decisions for a better future. For those considering pursuit of a venture:
Focus on your core, why you started the business and talk about it, strategically, connecting and listening. It’s a process, it’s in fact an organism, living and breathing, and you will be able to see your metrics grow and reach your objectives as you do more of it, consistently.
