Opportunity for small businesses during COVID-19 lock down

Small Businesses: Lock down is being lifted – What now? In South Africa, government has decided to use a phased approach as far as the lock down requirements are concerned. Full lock down is stage 5, which is the strictest level. It means that only certain essential services are allowed to operate, with strict requirements for all others to stay indoors in their places of residence. Level 4, which is starting on 1 May 2020, means that there will be certain organizations that will be allowed to start operating again, under strict conditions. Level 3 will be even more relaxed, etc. It means that sooner or later we will be able to start operating as small businesses. Many of us have been closed for the duration of lock down up to the point where we can start to operate again. Sounds like really good news, but how easy will it be to pick up from where we left off? The reality is that a lot of small businesses were not operational during this time. It means that there was nobo...

Organizations without a clear idea of where they want to be or what they want to achieve over time often end up running around in circles, not achieving much over time, They seem to be treading water, staying where they are. This is not good for any business, because opposition organizations move forward, and those left behind simply cease to exist in the long run. Organization need to have a clear picture of where they want be over a specified time period, and how to get there. We call this the vision of the organization, supported by strategic planning and tactical planning. Once a vision has been established, we need a road map to enable the organization to achieve its vision. Then organizations seem to move forward, achieving specific goals along the way towards achieving the vision. This blog tries to describe how this works. Vision First of all, a company needs what is generally known as the 'vision statement'. This statement provides the organization with a destina...