Sometimes change is forced upon us.
Things happen which we have little or no control over – Changes in product supply, sudden changes in finances like interest rates.
Even natural disasters like the cyclone & flood we witnessed just over a week ago in our own state.
So how can owners guard against too much impact on their business during stormy times?
Some of our valued clients whose commercial fitouts we’ve completed, have given us their best tips.
1. Understand What Forced the Change.
If it was a natural disaster, you may not have had time to prepare, but if there may have been circumstances you weren’t tuned in to, then it’s time to become more observant.
Tune into broad-based economic forecasts as well as to your own market.
2. Property Damage
It can be enormous in a natural disaster, so make sure that your fitout is as secure as it can possibly be:
Factors like secure roofing, adequate waterproofing, smoke and fire alarms, emergency lighting, the location of your server, storage of business records.
When considering where to locate your commercial premises, look at things like flood zones, the age of the building and its obvious shortcomings, to ensure that you are not too exposed to damage.
3. Warehousing of stock.
We often create secure and separate zones for stock storage and access in our commercial fitouts.
Our clients agree that owners should make sure that stock is housed well off the ground if you’re at risk of flood and in an area under secure roofing.
Loss of stock can stall your business for a long period.
4. Make sure you have good, firm insurances in place, particularly if a natural disaster comes your way.
Insurance for the loss of business trading is an important one.
Read the fine print of your policy to know what exactly you are covered for in times of natural disaster.
5. When it’s not a natural disaster that rocks you, but other external circumstances, here are some other pointers:
Take a look outside your bubble at others and examine what you’re doing and what you’re not doing.
Look at your competitors and study their practices.
There may be things you haven’t seen before which are worth building on. All of a sudden, as you’re looking around, you may see an added new direction.
6. Take care to have a good, broad mix of clientele.
Make sure that your major customer doesn’t have more than a 60% share of your market.
If so, make moves to diversify more so that you protect yourself from a major customer loss.
7. Keep up with what’s happening with technology.
Read heaps online and even find out more about how to develop an online presence that may help in guarding against downtimes.
Best to be prepared to take steps before a storm hits.
