How companies could survive the COVID-19 crisis by Abhijeet Kudva
Abhijeet Kudva, Managing Director, Zephyr Peacock India writes for Outlook Money on what companies can do to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.
Read the full article on Outlook Money here>
Below is an excerpt from the post that first appeared on Outlook Money on 30 April 2020:
“In the face of COVID-19, businesses face unprecedented challenges. Companies must rethink their business models and continue to deliver through innovative methods. It is also imperative that businesses develop a plan to survive the crisis.
The first obvious measure is to conserve cash. Businesses should defer expenses, halt expansion projects, and freeze new hiring. Companies must identify and focus on high growth and high potential markets, and let go of business with low growth potential.”
“The priorities and needs of customers often change during and after the crisis. Businesses must remain engaged with the customers to adapt to evolving needs. When recoveries begin after the crisis, the company will be prepared to onboard new clients, sell new products capturing the market in high growth sectors.
A recent example is from an emerging market-focused, freight logistics company. In 2016-17, sea freight rates dropped by 60 to 70 per cent. This negatively impacted the company’s business in freight forwarding. The company focused on rapidly developing a technology platform to deliver high-quality service for its customers and to reduce its operational expenses. The company deployed the technology platform soon after the crisis and consolidated all non-customer facing processes to a centralised offshore facility powered by technology. These measures helped the company improve its operational efficiencies to exceed industry benchmarks of efficiency ratios and operating leverage.”
