2020…The Year Of The New C-Word: How We Refused To Let Covid Win

We all came to know of the new c-word (now one of the most popular words in the world) early this year and it’s now become part of our daily vocabulary which I’m sure many of you are tired of hearing so, I’m going to make a conscious effort to not say it (unless absolutely necessary) for the remainder of this article.

Without a doubt, it has been the most challenging year for millions of people around the world both financially and emotionally. We’ve been restricted from travelling, visiting loved ones, in some cases working and also many other day-to-day activities that we have become so accustomed to.

I’m sure we’re all familiar with the number of Government support packages announced since March as well as the new stories emerging almost daily in the news of businesses struggling to stay afloat during this crisis.

“Almost one-quarter of UK businesses closed or paused trading due to the pandemic”

— Statista

On the flip side, we’ve heard great success stories of record funding during recessions to successful tech start-ups, mergers, acquisitions and brands using their market intelligence and creativity to pivot their business so they can adapt and use these unusual circumstances to their advantage. While this might not be possible for all businesses, there are also some stories of very traditional brands who have made radical changes during this time to keep their businesses running.

I get asked this question several times a week, “How’s your business coping through all these lockdowns and restrictions?”. My simple answer is “there are challenges that we need to solve everyday but overall we’re having a really great year”.

While I don’t wish to undermine anyone’s circumstances or struggles, there are things that everyone can do to make it through the tough times.

At Omvits, we have a culture of adaptation which means we’re continuously evolving and this has made a huge difference. We also decided to keep our business online as opposed to working with traditional retailers to ensure that we maintained control of our revenue during the first few years. These are strategic decisions that were based on our experience, past failures and ability to read the market.

I appreciate there other business sectors that are more exposed to the economic downturn than others, but in my opinion, it’s because the businesses haven’t diversified their revenue, product offerings and established a culture of rapid change. It’s a harsh lesson to learn but a good one too.

These are my 5 non-negotiable ingredients for running a successful business in 2020:

1. Customer Experience

I call this customer experience and not service because whilst they are related they are two distinct things. Customer service is a part of the puzzle, for example, interaction with customers and dealing with their questions, enquiries, concerns etc. Customer experience on the other hand is all of it, your customer’s entire journey with you.

Customers are absolutely EVERYTHING to us and without them, there is no business. This has been our approach from day 1…

• Real human interaction — every customer gets a real response. No bots and very few automated responses (e.g. out of hours).
• Response time — every enquiry is looked into within 24hours (except weekends sometimes).
• Be open & transparent with customers — we’ve been asked many times about our manufacturing processes, ingredients, packaging and much more. Tell the truth, customers appreciate it.
• Know & understand your customers — we’ve always made it a point to not just collect reviews and feedback but to review this as a team. Everyone regardless of position or department must understand who our customers are and what is important to them.

2. Productivity

The word says it all. We all want ourselves and our teams to be more productive so how can you do this? It doesn’t have to be complicated and very small changes in the direction can immensely alter the course of your business.

Here are a few small but very impactful actions that can increase productivity:

• Autonomy — in small businesses it’s easy to keep making joint decisions but there’s a time and place for this. Where possible, let people make quick decisions without lots of approval processes and unnecessary discussions.
• Mistakes are good — give yourself and the team complete freedom to make mistakes. Making mistakes is natural but unfortunately, we’ve been conditioned from a very young age to look at them negatively. To put things in perspective, while 2020 has been our best year in business, it’s also the one where we made the most mistakes.
• Reviews — I can’t stress enough how important these are. I don’t mean customer reviews (though they are just as important) — I’m referring to team reviews. Check-in regularly, find out where the gaps are, address issues early on and course correct. I suggest quick monthly check-ins and more thorough quarterly and annual reviews.
• Outsourcing — regardless of the size of a business, outsourcing makes a huge difference. Make a note of every process in your business and time spent on each of these. Outsourcing gives you more time to work on the things that really help to grow your business. One outsourcing decision saved us over 50 man-hours per month and enabled us to offer our customers several new options to enhance their customer experience.

3. Financial Management

I often come across many start-ups with excessively high burn-rates. Whilst it is required for many businesses (especially in the tech industry) to gain market share above competitors, it doesn’t serve all. The idea of a “lean business” has always interested me and thankfully I’ve been able to reap the benefits of this methodology.

Cash-flow management at all times (not just during a pandemic) is important and if mismanaged will cause huge problems. I have a few rules for financial management which can save a business from going under.

1. Understand your business’ financial model — Know your numbers. Keep it simple and know each area of your business.
2. Cash flow forecast — Long term forecasts are different from cash flow forecasting and budgeting. It’s important to do both. Have a clear picture of where you want to be in the next 5–10 years but more importantly, be clear on the cash-flow needs of your business on a day-to-day basis.
3. Forecast as best as possible — not always straight-forward in a start-up or without years of historical data but it’s possible to stay on top of this by regularly reviewing your numbers and updating forecasting tools.
4. Limit Borrowing — you may have heard the phrase “don’t bite off more than you can chew”. In this case, don’t borrow more than you can afford to. Run a lean operation, negotiate favourable terms with suppliers and think hard about where your money really needs to be spent.
5. Maintain a healthy cash position — always, and I mean ALWAYS, have cash in the bank. Cash is King and there is no doubting that in business. Having cash available to hand allows you to make quick changes when required, sustain through the lows and accelerate when opportunities present themselves.

4. Measuring Success

What’s your measure for success? We know it’s important to track KPI’s (key performance indicators) but you would be surprised at how many business owners are not aware of the key metrics in their businesses or they’re tracking wrong ones! (we’ve learnt this from personal experience too).

We spent over a year chopping and changing KPIs that we felt should be tracked. After seeking advice from successful entrepreneurs and understanding our business model better, we set ourselves on a number of metrics that would be tracked weekly without fail.

Here’s a list of 136 different indicators that a business could track.

Please do not track them all, you’ll spend more time running numbers than running your business! The most important thing here is to split your KPI’s into the following categories:

• Weekly
• Monthly
• Quarterly
• Yearly

Picking your KPI’s is easier when you have clarity in your business plan. We also track KPI’s where we know we’ll hit zeros for weeks on end but we know that this area must change…e.g. We tracked revenue and web traffic from day 1 even when we didn’t have our first order, it set a focus on what was needed to have a functional business.

Some will be useful for your internal team meetings, performance reviews and keeping track of the general direction of the business. Others will be required when speaking to the bank, investors, shareholders and other interested groups.

5. Mindset

I left this to the end as I feel it’s one of the most important factors to our growth this year. What I mean by “mindset” is all of the following:

• Attitude
• Thoughts
• Beliefs & Limiting Beliefs
• Emotional well-being
• Mental well-being

To me personally, this has always been important having been engaged in personal growth and development work for most of my adult life. Everything I’ve learnt over the years from my coaches and mentors has enabled me to focus and keep growing this year.

“Your state of mind defines the state of your life”

— Shameek Upadhya, Brother & Co-founder at Omvits

Love, compassion, empathy, openness, inclusion, care, fun — not the typical words you hear in the business world. I know many people in the corporate world who would have something to say about this list. However, as a business owner, I can’t think of a better, more fulfilling way to lead a team. Looking out for another’s well-being not only brings a huge sense of joy and satisfaction but also increases productivity amongst the team and creates an empowering environment to be in.

Here’s what I learnt this year around mindset and business:

• Check-in with the team daily — it is true that “absence makes the heart grow fonder” but in a work environment it’s important to keep yourself and the team empowered on a daily basis.
• Create a safe space for your team to share openly and honestly — this starts with you.
• Get to know your colleagues and what they’re going through at home or in their relationships etc.
• Nobody is perfect and we all have our personal challenges and insecurities — be compassionate and understanding with people.
• Invest in your personal development — keep training, growing and developing yourself.

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

— Vivian Greene