Are there any important startup lessons to take away from the last 18 months?
The Covid 19 pandemic changed the lives of just about every person and business seemingly overnight. But now that it’s been over a year since the pandemic started, business owners have begun to ask questions.
What has changed forever?
What’s gone (or is going) back to normal?
This article will explore startup lessons learned so that you can have the best framework to make decisions and be financially adept.
Rarely does everything go as planned with startups. You might have the most beautifully put-together business plan, but it will inevitably see some changes at some point. And if necessary, you would need to pivot. But now, in this pandemic-ridden world, being able to pivot successfully has become an even more valuable skill. Arguably, your startup’s ability to pivot is now necessary because no one knows when there will be another pandemic or if more significant changes are to come.
Many startups across industries were forced to change their business model dramatically to keep the doors open. Usually, a pivot involved changing your product’s target or shifting to a new market that was more profitable. Today, you need to be prepared to make more profound changes, like changing your entire business model. If your startup can be prepared to make greater changes, you will increase your chances of surviving if another pandemic hits. Here are some possibilities for you to consider:
Before Covid hit, businesses would primarily be concerned with ensuring their business delivered what their customers were expecting. Today, companies also need to consider any other safety concerns that they may have to accommodate.
Here are some elements that you need to pay more attention to and plan for.
Finding the right talent for your startup has always been a challenge. However, today there is a real shortage. In many industries, some businesses haven’t moved forward with their operations due to a lack of human resources.
This means that more businesses will have to compete for the same talent. The degree of the talent shortage varies from industry to industry, but the shortage has impacted everyone. Here are some aspects for you to consider regarding how you attract and retain talent.
Even though businesses have had to make massive changes to adapt to the new curveballs Covid has thrown their way, customers still expect the same level of service. This implies that you can’t rely on customers understanding that things are more challenging for you now. They’ll simply go to another business that can meet their expectations. For this reason, making sure that your customers have a consistently stellar experience will be critical to your growth. Here are some aspects of your customer experience to consider.
Every business that was able to pivot and survive the pandemic was because they had sound financials. Today it’s simply impossible to predict good or bad times, so you need to be prepared at all times for any scenario. Here are some financial considerations for you to keep in mind:
No one knows what the future will throw at us. But if there’s one lesson that the Covid pandemic has taught us, being prepared from an operational and financial standpoint is necessary.
Click here to schedule a call with one of our financial experts so we can help bulletproof your startup financially.