GRIT AND RESILIENCE: HOW TO BOUNCE BACK FROM ADVERSITY

06 Nov GRIT AND RESILIENCE: HOW TO BOUNCE BACK FROM ADVERSITY

Posted at 08:56h in Advertising, Business, Change Management, Creativity, Design Thinking, Finance and Banking, Innovation by

Continuing in our series of market research and business insights into pressing leadership problems, we’re pleased to share several recent insights gleaned as part of our work. These case studies are designed to serve as quick-hit overviews and snippets of findings on new trends and pressing areas of business. Be sure to check back frequently for additional updates, as we explore current challenges and common solutions to business problems that many organizations face.

Topic: How to Juggle a Cash Flow Crunch

Scenario: Business owners (especially small business owners) may not have a lot of money to go around – how do you manage it when you’re constantly in crisis?

Insight: Staff and vendors need to get paid first (otherwise, you’re not going to have much ability to keep generating revenue). Work with lenders to create manageable payment plans that help everyone accomplish their goals. Think about where you can renegotiate payment terms with suppliers, or find alternative arrangements. Institute temporary shutdowns (on specific low-traffic days of the week) or furloughs if needed. Etc. There are things you can do to help manage money when money is tight.  

Topic: How to Turn Challenges into Opportunities

Scenario: Many business owners are secretly experts at innovation, given the amount of adversity they constantly face – they just don’t know it, and are constantly being forced to find ways to turn lemons into lemonade.

Insight: The key is often to find new ways of looking at problems, new ways to apply old resources or capabilities, and new ways to present or position your products and services to better align with changing market needs. A lot of finding success here comes through reframing, and thinking about how you can mix and match tools or resources in your existing toolkit in clever ways to reengineer new, more effective solutions. Plenty of stories from both the corporate and the small business realms also remind us that necessity is the mother of invention as well.