How to plan your business for 2021 in the face of uncertainty.

During the last quarter of 2020, businesses reopened only to be told to close or reduce their capacity for customers. It’s becoming increasingly challenging to plan for the future. Consequently, many business owners might wonder how they can develop a growth strategy for 2020.

That’s why I wrote this blog post.

The first thing you need is a strategic direction to provide purpose for your business and help you set realistic goals to accomplish in the coming year.

Then, Focus on what you can do. All the rules and regulations have told you what your business can’t do. What you need to do now is look solely at what you can do. For example, when restaurants were told they couldn’t serve customers indoors, they transitioned to delivery or takeout. No matter what type of business you operate, this is the mindset to develop and use for your 2021 business strategy.

Then, Plan for changes, anything can happen. Use the experience of 2020 to develop a new timeline for product development, assuming that many of those factors may continue to impact the process.
Also, provide valuable resources for customers. Focus your business strategy for 2021 on your customers and customer-facing actions, such as adding to the value you deliver to them, and how those actions assist with your revenue objectives.

On the sales side, providing more options for financial assistance could help new customers make their purchases. Examples include layaway, structured payment plan services and other payment options that address smaller cash flows.
For marketing purposes, you also have considerable time and opportunity to plan content and provide access to similar valuable resources that provide information to your customers and prospects. These tactics might not deliver immediate revenue, but it can be effective to engage prospects now so they are ready to buy when things improve. Use the time to make improvements.

With uncertainty anticipated to continue in 2021, it’s good to have one or more backup plans for your business. Lay out potential contingencies that you may face in the coming year and use this time to craft strategic responses.

These strategic plans can address different scenarios like ongoing health concerns, reopening at a slower pace, continued openings and closings, remote and on-demand environments, and full reopening. Build out each of these plans, using the experience of 2020 to help develop key tactics. Many of these tactics may have already proven effective this year or they may be ones you are still testing.
Research tactics that worked for other businesses, even those you have not yet implemented, perhaps because your strategy focused on a return to a recognizable environment.

As you review these approaches to creating your 2021 business growth strategy, you’ll undoubtedly find plenty of actions you can take with certainty to counteract the doubt that seems so pervasive.

By proactively addressing the areas listed here, you can keep your focus on moving your small business forward with resiliency and a positive outlook that the future is bright

Creating a well-thought-out business plan for 2021 is the first step to making your business pandemic-proof in the coming years. Keep in mind, however, that a plan is never set in stone. Be ready to adjust as the year unfolds.

Till next time!
Ododoola