Pragmatic, effective strategies to help your business navigate the COVID-19 crisis - Reinforce Revenue

With news about the global coronavirus pandemic continually evolving, business owners are understandably confused and worried. There are immense risks amidst the disruption we are all experiencing — but also new opportunities to serve your customers and position your company for post-pandemic success.

This is a crucial time for business leaders to navigate carefully. Throughout this five-part series, we will provide you with current information, practical suggestions and helpful resources to keep your business on a safe pathway through disruption — and position it for accelerated success when the coronavirus crisis has passed.

1. Stretch cash flow
2. Preserve your workforce
3. Reinforce revenue
4. Demonstrate strong leadership

REINFORCE REVENUE

Time to be creative with revenue sources.

Map out your worst-case scenarios (e.g. what if demand for a product or service falls by 80 percent?), then consider strategies to address these scenarios. Focus on how you can protect current sources of revenue, find alternative sources and creating new ones.

Lost revenue? Replace or add revenue streams

Consider ways to potentially diversify your revenue streams and find new profit opportunities. Regardless of your industry, there will be ways of providing goods and services that you haven’t yet considered.

Instead of viewing current circumstances as surviving – pivot. For example, Corby Spirit and Wine is adding hand sanitizer to its Windsor, Ontario production line. And an MNP client in the medical sector who manufactures laundry management systems is producing easily sanitized stainless steel carts to meet more urgent needs in hospitals and clinics.

For distribution companies with excess capacity, consider renting inventory space to manufacturers or other distributors in industries where sales are spiking.

Manufacturer? Re-tool with the government’s financial assistance

Canada’s Plan to Mobilize Industry to fight COVID-19 is creating pathways to get domestic manufacturers and businesses the resources they need to help during this critical time. New measures will directly support a business’ ability to rapidly scale up production or re-tool manufacturing lines so they can develop products that will help in the fight against COVID-19. These products include critical health and safety supplies and equipment such as personal protective equipment, sanitization products, diagnostic and testing products and disease tracking technology.

There will be fast-tracking of approvals to deploy funds on an accelerated basis.

As well, the federal government is issuing a call to all businesses to help make products / services that assist in their response to COVID-19. A manufacturer can contact the COVID-19 task force directly or contact MNP and we will assist.

Product demand strain? Do a quick productivity improvement assessment

For companies whose product demand has exponentially accelerated, such as food processing or medical manufacturing, conduct a quick productivity improvement assessment. Assess ways to run your processes with fewer resources (e.g. people, financing, working capital). Consider bringing in experts for a couple of days who can identify ways to quickly ramp up production, workforce and supply chain capacity.

Invest only in product lines that will turn orders to cash quickly to reinvest in ramping up your revenues. Going forward, businesses that can operate with fewer key resources will be stronger and more resilient.

Yohaan Thommy, PMP, CMC, is a Partner with MNP’s Consulting Services team and leads the firm’s national performance improvement practice. You can reach him at [email protected] or 905.220.3211

Daniel Caringi is a Partner with MNP’s Consulting and Technology Solutions team. You can reach him at [email protected] or 416.626.6000