As 2021 starts, several major small business trends have emerged from almost a year in lockdown. With remote working setups likely to continue, streamlining to become more digitally optimised remains the biggest priority.
From prioritising e-commerce, improved automation, virtual efficiency and productivity, as well as restructuring and streamlining systems to reduce overheads, business owners will need to be agile and put in processes to help them weather this storm and be geared to thrive once the pandemic is over.
Apart from consolidating and streamlining business processes, instrumental to long term sustainability is to get inside the heads of customers.
“The lives of nearly all individuals are completely different to what they were a year ago, and they will most likely be different again in six months’ time,” points out Trevor Gosling, co-founder and CEO of Lulalend – an online SMME lender.
“Even if your short-term cash flow is about providing them with goods and services during the pandemic, your long-term viability will be dependent on meeting their evolving needs once this is all over.”
During market instability, it’s also essential for SMMEs to ensure they have sufficient cash reserves and fast access to working capital when required. In this regard, business owners don’t have to feel like they are alone.
Gosling says that this is the time when companies need to lean on or develop, partnerships with reliable credit providers who will be able to provide funding for day-to-day expenses or to take advantage of new opportunities as they arise.
There will eventually be an end in sight that will give our economy the respite that it desperately needs. Until this happens, what will keep businesses going is the support and access to vital funding that they are given.
