Three Things to do Today to Prepare for the Post-Pandemic Business Boom
We heralded a post-pandemic business boom in our Business Outlook for 2021 article late last year. With vaccines being rolled out, travel bubbles opening, and a more hopeful future ahead of us, now is the time for businesses to prepare to meet growing demand. Hereās what you should be planning for:
1. Getting the right people in the right jobs.
The time to hire is not when youāre too busy to keep up. You should hire and train new employees before busy periods, so you have capacity to meet growing demand.
An important benefit of hiring early is that it frees up capacity for the owners and managers of your business. When managerial staff donāt have the team below them to delegate to, it creates expensive inefficiencies. You end up paying managerial wages for your team to undertake entry-level tasks. Meanwhile, your managers have less time to focus on work that could promote growth. You should aim to always operate in a manner that allows higher up employees to focus on tasks within their job description.
You can find out more about wage subsidies for hiring new employees here.
2. Getting your business in front of the right eyes.
Your marketing strategy is key to getting your business in front of buyers at any time. It should be agile and scalable and tailored to your ideal customers. With a demand boom looming, thereās plenty you should be doing today to get your business ready to capitalise.
Youāll need to reach out to a marketing consultant for marketing tips. But, from an accounting perspective, hereās what you should consider before the boom:
- Define your marketing budget: What portion of your overall revenue are you willing to allocate to your marketing budget? Generally, fast growing companies spend up to 10% of annual revenue on marketing ā but your needs may differ.
- How are you going to allocate that budget? You need to ensure your branding, organic digital presence, and paid online advertising are strong and cohesive. Reach out for quotes from marketing specialists to determine what needs work and what youāre doing well already.
3. Preparing for the future of customer communications.
The nature of customer communications has changed ā forever. You can no longer assume your customers want to come to your store, office or business. Nor can you assume that they want to pick up the phone and call you. To access the customers you want to buy your products or services, you need to reach them where they want to communicate.
Depending on the size and nature of your business, you may want to invest in customer communications management software. If not, you should develop strong processes to ensure your customers arenāt left waiting for a response on the platforms you use. In the age of next-day delivery and instant messaging, responsiveness is more important than ever.
Strategic Planning with Sharp Accounting
Sharp Accounting helps businesses Australia-wide with their strategic planning. Our business services aid you to improve the performance and profitability over time. To discover how your business can be more competitive, more focused, and more productive, get in touch with us today.
