A time for agility and resilience

As executive director of one of New Zealand’s busiest and most successful accounting agencies, GoFi8ure’s Lisa Martin has loads of experience to draw on to help businesses punch on through the global pandemic. Here’s her advice for staying on the front foot.

GoFi8ure’s Lisa Martin has witnessed a good deal of the pain and uncertainty experienced by New Zealand businesses over the past seven months – much of it played out through discussions with her company’s clients.

Business owners have been adopting varying strategies, she says. There are those businesses with solid funds in the bank that chose to cancel dividend payments. Others looked to get around the constant Covid-19 uncertainty through wage freezes, controlling costs and retaining profits. 

There has been close scrutiny of staff numbers against generated revenue (“all your staff need to be 150 percent productive”); challenges around planning, with many plans on hold; while every decision has been exacerbated by more uncertainty as the country see-sawed from one alert level to the next. 

So what will the situation be like going into Christmas and the New Year break with all its associated pressure on payroll and tax payments? “Another lockdown and I might as well kiss my business goodbye,” is one comment Martin has heard from business owners. “Each lockdown is like a boxer taking another heavy blow,” she says. “When you’re a business owner you understandably get worn down and it becomes increasingly harder to get back up.”

So her first message for business owners is to stay agile and keep rolling with the punches – as hard as that may be.

“We were impressed by many of our retailer clients who mobilised during the first lockdown to set up online shopfronts to continue trading, or pivoted to just takeaway orders. Anything to retain as much of their customer base as possible.”

It’s difficult to retain all your staff if they’re not fully productive, but smart employers have utilised slow periods to encourage staff to learn new skills or engage in continuous improvement, perhaps through study.

“When you’re under pressure from a lockdown it’s a good time to pursue these sorts of things,” says Martin.

Accentuate the positives

Imagine you’re between rounds in this fight to survive and thrive under covid. “Take time to reflect on what made you and your business successful,” says Martin. “Accentuate the positives, eliminate any negatives, and even though it’s hard in these stressful times, try to refocus on the important things. Get back to strategic planning. Focus on what makes you money, what generates profit and what produces savings in your bank account. 

“Perhaps it’s time to stop coasting along, apply more effort and relaunch yourself.”

It’s also always a good time to focus on the basics, suggests Martin. “Control the costs associated with your employees and re-align your business strategy around what’s working and what’s not working. Really focus heavily on what generates revenue, and if something didn’t work last time, refocus and try again.”

Her main message to anyone starting out as a sole trader, perhaps after being made redundant, is to invest in cloud-based accounting software with bank feeds. “So information goes in automatically and you can vet it every day.” 

Similarly, if you hire staff, definitely choose a cloud payroll solution, she advises, and don’t forget to work with an advisor on the best structure for your business in order for it to grow.

“If you want to rationalise or tidy up your business affairs, know your tax obligations, or how much you can pay yourself – these are all good questions to put to professional advisors or accountants, like GoFi8ure, rather than friends, family members or that niece who’s just got her accounting degree,” says Martin.

“We help a lot of people to relaunch their business structure and to understand their current and future tax obligations.”

Rev up your resilience

Punching on through a covid-ravaged business environment is all about resilience, and Martin says for business owners that’s about being aware of what’s going on with your competitors.

“Use your emotional intelligence and maturity to look at the wider market setting. Who are your competitors and how are they demonstrating agility? 

“Remember, emulation is the highest form of respect.”

Resilience and agility in this age of Covid-19 is about thoughtful people management and knowledge sharing, says Martin – the latter based on keeping your business efficient and effective. However, adding a pandemic hat to all the other hats business owners wear can be exhausting, and involves tough decisions.

Martin made a decision to refocus her own business during the pandemic – saving on overheads by not renewing the lease on GoFi8ure’s Upper Hutt premises and switching to remote working. This decision to rationalise on a major cost was only made after ensuring revenue sources and customer loyalties were stable and customer experiences would be unaffected – literally putting her own advice into practice.

Don’t just survive, thrive

Agility goes hand in hand with resilience, and if business owners are struggling to change their mindsets, they should seek help, says Martin. “It’s true that a problem shared is a problem halved, and it’s never a sign of weakness to ask for help.

“Engage with your staff more, make sure they’re on the same page. They need to be if you’re to be both agile and resilient,” she says. “And it’s dangerous to have a mentality of just surviving. Have a conversation with an advisor to get some tips on how you can thrive as well.”

For the sake of your own mental health, it’s important to engage with others, Martin adds. 

“Talk to other local business owners and mutually share what works and what doesn’t.”

GoFi8ure offers 60-minute complimentary consultations for business owners, along with training sessions for clients to address any stumbling blocks to business growth. 

They’re particularly happy to help people venturing into business for the first time. Perhaps you have questions relating to tax in 2021?

“Business is all about building solid relationships based on service,” says Martin. “This is even more vital in these stressful times of Covid-19 restrictions because one good recommendation can lead to a lot more business for the person being recommended.

“Most important of all, you should talk to someone whom you know, you like and you trust.”