Becoming business ready – five tips to getting your business prepared for the next few months

Guest post by Rob Harrison, Managing Director UK & Ireland, SAP Concur

Over the past decade, Ireland and specifically Dublin have become known as Europe’s own Silicon Valley – a jewel in the crown of the technology industry. With the ability to provide easy access to European talent, as well as offering the benefits of a better work/life balance than a lot of major cities, the likes of Facebook, Microsoft and Apple have successfully anchored their business operations there.

With more than a thousand multinational companies now having a base of operations within the country, the foreign-owned businesses have become an essential part of the economy employing approximately 250,000 workers from across Ireland.

However now on a background of COVID-19, many businesses are facing challenges that they couldn’t predict, needing to gain clear visibility over their expenses and maximise revenue, as well as remain productive and drive growth.

With the pandemic set to have a long-lasting effect on the economy, businesses need to start planning to help ensure their businesses are in the best place to survive.

The following list provides some guidance on how Irish business leaders can start planning now to prepare for the months ahead.

1. Maintaining cash flow

Many companies have experienced a decrease in their income as a result of COVID-19. Regardless of the account or invoice size, embedding a practice within your financial team of invoicing in a timely manner and ensuring payments come in on time, can make a significant difference in your bottom line. Now more than ever, it’s important for companies to get a holistic view across cash flow – ensuring you have the right tools in place so you can quickly identify and chase any late payments, as well as minimise duplicate or fraudulent invoices being paid. In addition, where possible try and keep outgoings low by optimising stock levels and evaluating if it’s cheaper to lease equipment rather than buy in the immediate future.

2. Begin the shift to digital

With the uncertainty around COVID, and the need to work from home where possible, it’s important for businesses to continue to support staff to do this without impacting productivity. For businesses that can facilitate staff working remotely, investing in quality videoconferencing and cloud-based collaboration tools will help the transition of moving from the office to home. This includes looking at where your business may be able to digitalise manual paper-based processes, such as invoicing and expenses. Utilising a digital-first approach to expense and invoice management will not only help you to streamline these processes but it also and helps limit undue stress from employees needing to be in physical locations, for example, to pick up invoices posted to the office. Moving these processes online also allows for a virtual ‘file cabinet’, that is instantly accessible and secure to employees regardless of where they are based.

3. Create efficiencies across budgets

It’s a common knee-jerk reaction to look at where you can make the most savings, quickly, when experiencing a downtown in business. It may feel that cutting down on employees or reducing the cost of suppliers will make the most immediate impact, however, these decisions pose a high-risk strategy that can result in long-term business continuity impacts, particularly when things pick up again. Instead, look at ways at addressing inefficacies within your business first and streamlining processes where you can. For example, research shows that a finance team of approx. eight people can save approximately 69 hours per week when implementing an invoice management solution. This allows the hours saved by the team to be directed to other parts of the business, allowing finance to take a more strategic approach to identifying cost-saving exercises that don’t interrupt business continuity.

4. Unlock innovation with new business models

With many countries going through secondary lock-down periods, it would be irresponsible to not prepare for another lock-down potentially occurring in the future. So, what does your business for this come to be? Adapt and innovate your business model. Businesses who were able to pivot quickly during the first lock-down, such as restaurants that moved to offer takeaway, were able to lessen some of the impact of needing to close their premises. Should the worst happen again, now is the time to look at your business model and creatively brainstorm ideas of what you might be able that may help provide a supplementary income to your business.

5. Invest in your employees

The impact of COVID has meant many businesses have had to relook at their staffing structure – either putting employees on furlough or in more severe circumstances making them redundant. As the most valuable assets of your business, how you treat your employees over the next few months will not only indicate how you set yourself up in the long-term but also leave a lasting impression. Some of your employees will be worried about the future, but also their own personal safety. Creating a safe work environment, that supports social distancing and good hygiene is the first step in making your employees feel more comfortable. However, supporting their mental wellbeing is just as important. You can do this by providing transparent and clear communications, while also offering flexible working options. Allow employees an outlet where their concerns can be heard and listened to also provides a safe outlet for any fears or frustrations they may harbour.

Getting back to ‘normal’

With many challenges expected over the coming months, proactively taking steps to help prepare your business in the best way possible will help lessen the impact that COVID-19 may have in the future. While it’s uncertain when things will get back to normal and if this is ever possible, now is the time to make sure your business puts in place processes and procedures which will allow them to create efficiencies and support critical cash flow for the foreseeable future.

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