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How to build long-term resilience for your firm

July 3, 2020

Liza RobbinsBy Liza Robbins.

This is a high-risk moment.

All over the world, Coronavirus restrictions are being lifted…

…And there is a cautious sense that we are, however gradually, returning to something resembling “normality”.

But the truth is, of course, that market conditions are very different to what they were in January or February.

We are entering a period of profound economic uncertainty and potentially tumult.

And we are not yet out of the woods yet concerning Coronavirus. We may very well face the feared “second wave” later in the year or next winter, leading to more restrictions, dents in consumer confidence and potentially even new lockdowns.

So while many business leaders imagine that the worst is over, now that Coronavirus appears to be on the wane and most countries are easing their lockdowns…

And feel that they can finally relax just a bit…

It would be a terrible mistake to be complacent right now.

The most sensible thing to do right now is to endeavour to build up your firm’s long-term resilience…

…Because there are likely storms ahead, and we’re going to have to weather them.

As an accountancy firm, I am sure I don’t need to tell you that this is the moment to look at your own accounts carefully, to make sure that you are as financially lean and mean as possible.

But given how rocky the next few months might be, I think you need to go much further than that to build financial and business resilience.

Many firms have spent the last few months pivoting their operations and innovating in various ways. The flexibility and ‘out of the box’ thinking many of you have shown has been legendary!

You need to keep your foot firmly on that pedal.

Now is the time to think creatively about financial efficiency.

For example, in many of the countries in which Kreston operates, we have more than one firm.

Are there opportunities here to collaborate?

Of course, this may not just mean sharing expenses.

The Kreston firm working in a city near you may have fantastic services which you could badge as your own. Or perhaps they could offer their clients some of your unique services!

We’ve seen this being done well in Latin America, for example, where Kreston firms with a specialism in transfer pricing are now offering this service to others.

And you don’t have to stick to Kreston firms near you for this, either. If there’s one thing we’ve learned during Coronavirus, it’s that geography is no longer a barrier for doing business together!

Six months ago, for example, I told you about the Cybersecurity services offered by Kreston IL Group.

This is a service you could be offering to your own clients – because Kreston IL Group will run the whole process for you.

Perhaps you thought this was interesting when I first mentioned it, but didn’t do anything about it…

Now is the time to revisit this opportunity – and any others you may have briefly considered in the past, but which fell by the wayside or were not followed up on.

We’re still in pressing circumstances, and that means thinking innovatively.

There has never been a better time to do things in a new way.

By shifting our offices to working remotely, we’ve already shown that we can break the mould of the traditional office set-up – something most firms will have considered impossible just a few months ago!

Now that we’ve shown we can do it, I challenge you to continue breaking those moulds…

Thinking anew about your spending patterns, partnerships, and even who is delivering your services to your clients…

…So that we can emerge from this challenging period stronger, better – and more resilient for the future.