“I now work from home, but life is more restricted than normal”
Letting staff go is usually a tough decision and the last resort. Staff are part of your team, and although they may not be perfect all the time, they are really valuable. It usually takes considerable time and effort building up a successful team, and it feels like a complete waste to have to offboard them. Plus, if things improve, you will have to find and train their replacements, which will be time-consuming and expensive.
Government Subsidies will come to an end
The UK government’s unprecedented support during this time has made a difficult situation more bearable and has been extended. However, it will soon come to an end (April 2021). Already 1 in 5 small businesses have had to let staff go, and many more are weighing up what may need to be done after the government subsidies are withdrawn.
The type of business you are will make a big difference in whether you can bounce back and be profitable without having to offboard valued colleagues. If you are a small service business, the chances are that you employ fewer people and that they make a significant contribution to every stage of the customer journey. Losing them would feel especially hard. They are often extremely loyal, and you hate the thought of causing personal hardship. And even if you employ more casual labour, e.g. in the hospitality sector, you know your success, like any business, depends on having the right people in place.
“I don’t want to let my staff go, but what else can I do?”
Don’t rush to get rid of your staff. Rather than make hasty decisions, taking a long fresh look at all the company expenses is worth doing. Analyse your fixed costs, which are incurred no matter what, and variable costs, which can be flexed.
You’ll get a better overall picture of your business health and may find you can save costs in unexpected places. In a recession, all businesses suffer to some extent; everyone is in a difficult situation, so re-negotiation of your terms of trade is often more successful than you might imagine. You might as well “ask the question” – sometimes the answer will be more favourable than you think!
Only when you have explored all cost-cutting opportunities should you decide to offboard staff. That way, if you do have to say goodbye to your people, you will be able to tell them, hand on heart, that you have looked at all the options, and have been left with no other choice. Your staff will hear the truth of that, and it will at least let them leave them with their dignity intact. (It might also be wise to maintain good relations as you never know when you might be working with that person again.)
For an impartial view of your business’s unexploited areas, contact Flourish to get your FREE Business Performance Assessment.
1 in 5 Small Businesses has had to make staff redundant because of Covid-19
Letting staff go is usually a tough decision and the last resort. Staff are part of your team, and although they may not be perfect all the time, they are really valuable. It usually takes considerable time and effort building up a successful team, and it feels like a complete waste to have to offboard them. Plus, if things improve, you will have to find and train their replacements, which will be time-consuming and expensive.
Government Subsidies will come to an end
The UK government’s unprecedented support during this time has made a difficult situation more bearable and has been extended. However, it will soon come to an end (April 2021). Already 1 in 5 small businesses have had to let staff go, and many more are weighing up what may need to be done after the government subsidies are withdrawn.
The type of business you are will make a big difference in whether you can bounce back and be profitable without having to offboard valued colleagues. If you are a small service business, the chances are that you employ fewer people and that they make a significant contribution to every stage of the customer journey. Losing them would feel especially hard. They are often extremely loyal, and you hate the thought of causing personal hardship. And even if you employ more casual labour, e.g. in the hospitality sector, you know your success, like any business, depends on having the right people in place.
“I don’t want to let my staff go, but what else can I do?”
Don’t rush to get rid of your staff. Rather than make hasty decisions, taking a long fresh look at all the company expenses is worth doing. Analyse your fixed costs, which are incurred no matter what, and variable costs, which can be flexed.
You’ll get a better overall picture of your business health and may find you can save costs in unexpected places. In a recession, all businesses suffer to some extent; everyone is in a difficult situation, so re-negotiation of your terms of trade is often more successful than you might imagine. You might as well “ask the question” – sometimes the answer will be more favourable than you think!
Only when you have explored all cost-cutting opportunities should you decide to offboard staff. That way, if you do have to say goodbye to your people, you will be able to tell them, hand on heart, that you have looked at all the options, and have been left with no other choice. Your staff will hear the truth of that, and it will at least let them leave them with their dignity intact. (It might also be wise to maintain good relations as you never know when you might be working with that person again.)
For an impartial view of your business’s unexploited areas, contact Flourish to get your FREE Business Performance Assessment.
7 Ways to Improve Your Business Performance and Add More Value to Your Business
There are many ways in which you can improve and add value to your business. But maybe (probably) it’s hard to “see the wood from the trees” and work out exactly what needs to be done.
Any one of the following steps could help you reach the success you want to see. And when they’re all combined, you’ll begin to move ahead more rapidly in your business than ever before.
Offer Quality Products and Services
No matter your field of business, the quality of your products and services will always add value to it. To add value, not only should your products and services be better than your competitors’, but they should also be differentiated and distinct. Providing your customers with a better product at a price that matches your competitors, will eventually create value for your business. It will also help you attract and retain more customers.
Perform Extensive Market Research
In the past few decades, the business world has become way more tough and ruthless than it used to be. To be successful, you have to invest in market research on a regular basis, as it can help you identify issues that might be holding you back from adding value to your business.
Analyse Your Customer Service
Value-addition does not relate to monetary benefits only. You can create value for your business in a lot of different ways. If you are in any services business, then the best way to add value to your business is through your employees. Your support staff should be able to answer and resolve customer queries in a timely and responsive manner and handle even the rudest clients in a most friendly and cheerful way. As the saying goes: it takes years to build up a reputation but it can be destroyed in a single day and take years to rebuild.
Offer Regular Deals and Discounts
What can add better value to your business than offering high-quality products? The answer to that question is “Offering discounts on your high-quality products”. Customers love discounts and package deals. Offering regular discounts will help you retain customers. You might be selling products at a lower price, but the likely repeat business will be more valuable to your business in the long-term if the products are still acceptably profitable.
Use Your Resources Properly
Whether it’s your machinery, raw materials, human resource or any other type of resource, you have to use them properly. Your resources are the base of your business, and if the base is weak, the business will be weak. Try to use your resources efficiently; don’t waste them and don’t use them where they are not supposed to be used. For example, use the right person in the right job and don’t let company politics or personal sentiment cloud your decision-making.
Invest In the Latest Technology
Technology has transformed our way of doing business. If you want to add value to your business, you definitely can’t do it without investing in technology. Obsolete or old-fashioned technology could actually ruin your entire business. So it is crucial for business owners to invest in the latest and relevant technology or risk becoming uncompetitive and unviable.
For an impartial view of your business’s unexploited areas, contact Flourish to get your FREE Business Performance Assessment.