07/05/2020
Pandemic and Recession: Double Wahala for Nigeria.
In the past weeks and months, nations around the world have seen a lot of trouble, with Nigeria not being an exception. With the lock down, a lot of companies were shut down except those offering essential services. Not to mention, those in the informal sector. The economy was really on a lock down. This has led to drop in revenues for businesses and the attendant adjustments - Salary cuts and massive job losses.
Also because of low energy demand globally, the price of Oil, Nigeria's major source of revenue has bottomed, the lowest in forty years. As a result, Nigeria does not have sufficient Dollar inflow to meet our foreign spending (we love imported something, you know). And so as dollar becomes scarce, the currency exchange rate goes higher. That explains why our beloved Naira is tumbling. The last I checked, it was heading towards N450 to a $1.
Double wahala for Nigeria. Recession is coming.
However, with the gloom and doom also comes with new opportunities. The players in the Health Care, Technology, e-commerce, Online and Offline retail services space, among others have seen an unprecedented boom in the past weeks. And so you should stay resilient and plan to be relevant in the future.
We are offering a few tips for individuals and small businesses on how to cope with the recession.
1. Know your numbers per time. Running out of cash is one of the biggest killers of companies. Do not run out of cash. Have effective ways to monitor and forecast cash flow, revenues, costs, are those that are positioned to survive. You can build simple templates using microsoft excel or you can find and download free productivity tools.
2. Focus on the important Stuff. An agelong principle (Pareto, applied in business) is that 20% of the inputs which you make are responsible for 80% of the outputs that you get. You may need to focus on the things that matter and do it well.
3. Leverage technology. Businesses that would survive the times ahead are those that are not reluctant to ride on the waves of improvement in business processes. You would need to automate routine activities, create better customer experience using appropriate tools. As it varies from industry to industry, you would need to research on how you can create value for your customers and yourself.
4. Flexible Workforce. There are roles that should not be full time. You would be able to scale up your business by considering the engagement of freelancers, or temporary workers. Having access to a flexible workforce would make you more adaptative and therefore capable of getting back on track financially faster in a recession.
5. Seek help. It is no use pretending that all is well when it is not. When it does seem that you are not making progress as you should, it is time to seek help from knowledgeable resources around you. There are incubation hubs, business management services and others online and offline resources that would offer help. Collaboration is the new normal. Helvisory is here to help too, and we are a hello away! Just send a note to [email protected] and we got your back.
See you beyond the Pandemic, and the recession.
