Do today what needs doing today
August 10th 2009 While small businesses have had a tough time of late, the good news is that adversity and opportunity are closely linked. Business has declined but it has not disappeared and there are still business opportunities for those companies prepared to face the challenge.Chris Dee, executive director of BCAS, comments
The UK economy contracted 2.4% in the first quarter of 2009, a decline not exceeded in 51 years, according to the latest official data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The decline was more severe than the earlier estimate of a 1.9% fall, and worse than analyst expectations.
However, by taking a long hard look at your business, and focusing on what you do best, it may be that you could use adversity to fuel your growth. Organisations that, during times of turbulence, cope better are agile and able to move quickly and opportunistically in dealing with change. Care must be taken in predicting things in this slowdown because it is global and quite different from other downturns. It was caused by overspeculation in financial institutions, not by industrial decline.
Challenge = opportunity
One characteristic that marks out member companies of the British Compressed Air Society (BCAS) from other compressed air suppliers is their optimism, currently expressed as a belief that any challenge is also an opportunity. In the current economic situation, there is a greater need than ever to innovate. A recession forces all companies to behave more entrepreneurially, which will be a good thing for business in the long term.
The obvious reaction to such gloomy times is to curl up into a defensive, cost-cutting mode and hope that the situation will improve. This kind of knee-jerk reaction could be devastating for your company. The more productive approach of BCAS and its members is to react in the opposite way. Approach the tough trading period ahead with the right mindset and you can position yourself to come out on top. Many of the biggest corporate names, such as Virgin, Microsoft and Google were born out of a recession.
Successful companies spotted the opportunities that faced them, and any shake-up in your market will create gaps that could give you a lucky break. Stretch resources to make them go further. It should be seen as cost saving, not cost cutting. Forget how you have always done things and go find cheaper, better and easier ways of doing what you already do.
During economic declines, it’s important to continue to try to run a sustainable business. Not only in the context of coping with the environment but in terms of the organisation’s strategy, its agility and responsiveness.
Tim Smit, chief executive and co-founder of the Eden Project recently declared “This is the most exciting time to be alive. There is a lot more glass-half-full than half-empty thinking in the business community, despite repeated warnings that the pain of the recession is by no means over”
Almost every part of the economy is being squeezed, from consumer spending and investment to industrial production and financial services. The lessons of history show that recovery can take years. The 1929 recession and the subsequent Depression continued throughout the 1930s. And the 1980’s UK recession lasted more than two years.
Born out of recession
BCAS itself was born out of the 1929 recession when the UK needed performance and safety standards to be produced due to the increasing levels of machines being imported into the UK. The Board of Trade initiated an action that saw the major compressor manufacturers form the British Compressed Air Society, and 80 years later we are still performing that role for a record high number of members. Over 60% of the current members have more than 10 years continuous membership to BCAS, clear evidence that they see the financial benefits of belonging to the trade association.
Most firms do not need breakthrough innovation. They require incremental innovation which can be process improvement, product improvement or service improvement. It is not about risk-taking or even technology. Listen to your customers and to your staff and you often find the next big idea is closer to home.
Two ways in which you can look to improve current performance are:
Copy a good idea; let others do the innovative work for you – for example, discount airlines did not start with Ryanair or easyjet, the idea was imported from the USA and Southwest Airlines.
Solve a problem; Akio Morita, co-founder of Sony, saw youngsters walking with oversized portable stereo players on their shoulders and realised that their problem was the need for music on the move. The world was introduced to the Walkman and, more recently, the iPod.
You must always take the long-term view. It’s easier said than done but calmness under pressure and not overreacting too quickly, are good leadership qualities.
New initiatives
BCAS is helping its member companies grow and succeed. In launching initiatives such as the Code of Conduct, the enhanced Insurance Scheme and the Trusted Trader Scheme, we aim to make it easy for members to retain their existing customers and find new ones.
Social media
Social media is a growing area for BCAS and we are pleased to be part of the BT Tradespace programme and also host a BCAS Community on Tradespace for members to read and write blogs and share experiences on the issues that are of interest to them.
Cost cutting
These new initiatives are not in isolation. They complement the core activity of any technical trade association such as driving enterprise and cutting the cost of red tape. To date, BCAS has saved its members and their customers hundreds of thousands of pounds by removing or simplifying the cost of complying with regulations.
Compressed air systems are the backbone of our manufacturing economy – if the compressed air fails the production process fails. Similarly, small and medium enterprises form the core of our economy but, unfortunately, they are often the ones hardest hit in difficult economic times.
During the next year we plan to continue helping member companies survive and grow their businesses and to take the BCAS brand to global markets and offer an International category of membership in response to a growing number of overseas enquiries from companies that do not have a national compressed air trade association.
To find out how membership of BCAS can help you and your company, email: enquiries@bcas.org.uk or visit www.bcas.org.uk
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