The Covid-19 pandemic has hit every country, body and economy really hard. A microscopic virus, invisible to the naked eye, has brought the entire world to its knees in fear. It goes to show how far and wide every entity is inter-staked with each other and how an epidemic that started a continent away is now affecting us at our very own doorstep. Amidst the nervous quiet of desperate government controlled ‘lock-downs’, business owners around the world can finally reflect upon their sustainability levels as they ride out the dark of the on-going pandemic.
Sustainable businesses are those that would have a complete ecosystem of end-to-end resources and consumers that can run for generations without harming or affecting the environment and natural resources for future generations. In short, such businesses are self-sustaining in coalescence with its vendors and consumers, regardless of what the macro or micro external environment may bring to these businesses.
However, it is wrong to say that sustainable businesses are completely immune to the Covid-19 given that this pandemic virus affects human lives and their livelihoods and not just inventory stock, property or assets. Be that as it may, prudent sustainable businesses would have been well entrenched and diversified in various ways to advert economic disasters befalling the world’s economy directly due to this pandemic. Even as the world still cringes from the quarantines, lock-downs, movement control orders, circuit breakers, or whatever ways governments call their disease control methodologies, it is never too late to review and implement new measures to bolster the sustainability levels of any business entity.
While the direct impact of Covid-19 is blunt and brutal in forestalling economic activities, businesses should look to diversify their position globally before the fallout from Covid-19 even begins to set in. As much as we’ve learnt from previous pandemics and epidemics, the fallout takes longer for most economies to recover leaving many businesses to lurch in depression of recessions.
Further, socio-economic activities will evolve as people will opt to continue their WFH (work-from-home) creating a new unlegislated manpower work-culture norm. Business case questions will rise, such as whether WFH residential properties should be taxed and regulated as commercial premises since economic activities are performed within. Also, how should over-time and work hours be fairly compensated if employees are caught up with extended household activities, childcare or are simply multi-tasking while binge watching dramas? More importantly, how secure are a business’ assets and data given the new WFH remote work arrangements and how to ensure that employees are not abusing, infecting or stealing such assets for other personal gains or use?
Building Sustainability in Uncertain Times
Generally, prudent sustainable businesses would have been somewhat prepared for many global and domestic scenarios and outcomes such as Covid-19. It would have multiple sources of in-house resources and supplies to support and adequately deliver to its end-user demands. Also, a sustainable business would have diversified into different core and ancillary industries that would help mitigate the direct impact of any uncertain events, including the recent pandemic. Such businesses would be able to tap into its reserves from either side of its conglomerate ecosystem and will not need to rely on any one source country or entity.
Having a globally diversified business structure allows such businesses to maintain and develop secure core cloud-based platforms and delivery networks while ensuring the safety and security of all its staff and its physical, intellectual and digital assets. As part of sustainable supply chains, sustainable businesses will coalescence with sustainable vendors and customers which can each scale their operations accordingly depending on external and internal markets. This gives them the flexibility of managing operations efficiently while anticipating future needs during periods of uncertainty.
While the Covid-19 has struck humanity hard and fast, it gives time for business owners to reflect and reassess their current business viability and going-concerns. While most unsustainable businesses would liquidate immediately during the most violent period, others may draw on unsustainable resources like grants, loans and stakeholder reserves to help keep afloat. Such actions would only delay the inevitable as whole economies begin to sink into recession immediately after the pandemic diminishing any hopes of immediate revival in the short-term.
Despite all the looming negativity and recession fears aired in the news and by politicians, now would actually be a good time to allocate resources to expand overseas and diversify the business portfolio to make its core business activities sustainable. Rather than cowering and hunkering down in a recessive dooms-day bunker, businesses should re-strategise their supply and demand chains to ensure that their future is secured and well supplied in-house regardless of the macro situation. Relying on sources from a single to a few countries or entities is a failed old-age business strategy that has been proven so many generations over.
As markets try to restart and reopen with vigor and vengeance after the Covid-19 effect, market consumption is expected to spike with inflation while access to supply remains limited and embargoed. As most governments would realize by now, local domestic production and supply in key industries is crucial in maintaining a sustainable economy to help furlough through the global recession. This is where businesses should invest themselves in while taking advantage of the incentives and opportunities offered by those governments. Securing the supply of resources for the business in-house is key to building a sustainable business for the long term.
Even with all the manic anticipation of consumer FOMO (fear of missing out) vengeance after the Covid-19 effect, consumption and spending will only spike momentarily before economic and job security woes weigh into the consumers’ finances. Government bails, grants and subsidies will recede eventually and the flattening of the spike will be even sooner when businesses try to recoup their losses incurred during the Covid-19 effect by inflating prices; while accusing reasons and such on limited supply. Such short and unsustainable age-old methods for ‘quick profits’ would only drive consumers and confidence away. Instead, to build sustainable businesses, business owners should look into diversifying geo-political markets and invest to build a sustainable and scalable ecosystem with its consumers.
As most businesses may have already or haphazardly retreated their entire office paradigms to the ‘cloud’ to allow for its employees to WFH, there is the omnipotent risk of data security infection and breaches; both intentionally and unintentionally. Business intellectual and digital assets which were once defended behind physical security postures, devices and systems on premises are now exposed to external hackers, ransomware, theft and other cyber threats over the internet. As such, to build a sustainable business online and offline, businesses should invest in adequate infrastructure security systems such as EDR (End-point Detection and Remediation) tools to prevent, detect and mitigate risks on their platforms and databases.
While most businesses and individuals focus primarily on survival and post Covid-19 effects, the environmental damage during and after the pandemic is often neglected all over again. Energy demands will begin to spike tremendously and unsustainable economic activities will reverse whatever carbon emission reductions that was saved during the pandemic. Sustainable businesses need to plan ahead and educate the world masses about the importance of sustainable activities to preserve natural resources and the environment from pollution. Strategic design and implementation of eco-friendly bio-grade products and features by such businesses will help pave the way for generations of consumers, vendors and other businesses to benchmark with, thereby creating market niches and highly sustainable competitive advantages for the business.
Conclusion
Building a sustainable business is key to inoculate a business from internal and external factors and the current Covid-19 pandemic has already revealed the weaknesses and vulnerability of governments and businesses around the world. While the direct impact of the pandemic was swift and brutal, the world rallied to rebuild resilience but not enough to save unsustainable businesses as they fold unsparingly. It has now become ever more clear for business owners to rethink their position and make their businesses more sustainable before the relapse or another global event strikes again.
Is your business facing sustainability issues? Speak to us for a non-obligatory consultation session on strategies to make your business highly sustainable, even during such times. The Globales Initiative seeks to help all kinds of entities build sustainable global businesses through its global affiliate networks and partners.
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