Resilient businesses are better prepared for uncertainties. (Image: Unsplash)
One of the areas that often come up in competency frameworks is “resilience”. For instance, those who can think quickly on their feet tend to be resilient. This is often talked about in boardrooms and is considered a desirable trait for moving up the corporate ladder. The way it works for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is different.
A war chest is an asset large organisations can fall back on. On the other hand, SMEs can have trump cards like nimbleness and faster implementation of change, as they do not need multi-level approvals but they have to stretch their budgets considerably.
The coronavirus pandemic has underscored the need for resilience. The future of business is paved with upheaval and resilience is something of a good thing to nurture.
Let us demonstrate this with an example of, say, sales. Getting the low-hanging fruits and making the targeted numbers are easy.
Making inroads into large accounts or marquee clients requires a lot more effort, as the first few tries may or may not yield results. It takes persistence and persuasion to break into them but the results will be long-term stability and manifold topline growth.
Anticipate and plan
One needs to plan. In the early 2000s, many parents looked into the future and taught themselves, as well as their children, Mandarin as they could see China rising. Learning things in anticipation is a good mantra for being prepared. Having said that, resilience is not a sport where an individual puts in enormous effort and the organisation will do well. In an SME, the whole village needs to be involved.
As the village head, apart from self-care in terms of one’s health and holistic wellbeing, an SME owner needs to think of all stakeholders. This includes the immediate family, at home and work. That is just the beginning. Make a list of them. It is a long one, which should include employees, customers, suppliers and the community.
Keeping these critical relationships fortified is important and communicating regularly is the key.
Transparency and reciprocity of information flow help you see the red flags, which can indicate the pitfalls and potential problems. Some of these could be upcoming regulations or an infrastructure project, which could have an impact on your business.
Future-proof the business
There was an entrepreneur in India who sent his son to work and live by himself incognito. This is a relevant example because this mandate helped the boy acquire an attitude that was difficult to cultivate in the comfort of his house. This is known to all as resilience.
It is a vexing issue. Parents want to protect their children while giving them good values. There is a need to focus on this aspect of resilience. Resilience in the second generation is an area founders need to focus on.
When one looks at successful leaders, what comes across is their statesmanship, confidence, intelligence, and presence. What is perhaps not seen is the number of times that they have fallen, dusted themselves and got ready for the next step.
An icon of statesmanship, Abraham Lincoln, failed miserably for several years to win a seat even in the local council. Our very own superstar Amitabh Bachchan had 13 flops but continued acting and had his first hit and success.
He again faced failure –deep in debt and almost friendless in an industry that he ruled. He remained resilient and the rest is history.
Here are some pointers to cultivate this elusive quality:
1 Keep your ears to the ground and eyes to the sky and be aware of trends. Leadership with an inward focus on building capacity is very much needed, but disengaging to look outside, connecting and learning is equally important.
2 Look around the corners. This involves not just looking around but looking into the future. For example, if you are in the business of making clothes for young adults, you will get an idea of the future by looking at what teenagers are wearing.
3 Provide a safe space for people to speak up and share their opinions and fears. Then you will have multiple eyes and ears.
4 We cannot control everything. Focussing on what can be controlled is what matters. The illusion of having a grip on every factor can be very taxing indeed.
5 Allow people to take risks and make mistakes but learn from them. Document all learnings.
SMEs must prioritise resilience-building and this can be done by developing effective communication strategies, seeking out collaborations and encouraging curiosity. This will enable them to be more agile, flexible and better equipped to face challenges that come their way.