Get your business ready for recovery using some of these practical hacks that will not just grow your business but also ensure profitability. Covid is an inflection point that has reset several norms as we realize that we’re never going to go back to working the way that we did. All industries are at the mercy of an invisible, uncontrollable enemy that has impacted everything from consumer interest to consumption patterns and the ability of the business to cater to this unprecedented change. Your business may have been upended by this disruption too, that has changed the market dynamics overnight. To stay afloat & remain relevant to your customers & shareholders, it is important to start getting your organisation ready for recovery & make the change your business needs today. To manage your way through this, here are eight very practical & powerful #hacks to make sure that when the world returns to normalcy, you are there all prepped to ride the wave.

1. EIGHT #GROWTH HACKS TO IMPROVE YOUR
PROFIT MARGINS IN A RECESSION

2. Get your business ready for recovery using some of these practical hacks that will not just grow your business but also
ensure profitability.
Covid is an inflection point that will reset several norms as we realize that we’re never going to go back to working the way
that we did. To stay afloat & remain relevant to your customers & shareholders, it is important to start getting your
organisation ready for recovery & make the change your business needs today.
All industries are at the mercy of an invisible, uncontrollable enemy that has impacted everything from consumer interest
to consumption patterns and the ability of the business to cater to this unprecedented change. Your business may have
been upended by this disruption too, that has changed the market dynamics overnight. So how do you, not just stay
relevant but also generate profits?
To manage your way through this, here are eight very practical & powerful #hacks to make sure that when the world opens
you are there all prepped to ride the wave.

3. PLAN FOR BUSINESS RECOVERY USING A BARBELL STRATEGY
Like rabbits that sense an earthquake and start running helter
skelter, businesses face the same imminent danger of falling in
trap of flawed short-termism in their bid for immediate survival.
The main source of the problem is the pressure on companies to
get the business back on its feet through a combination of tactics,
incentives & cost-cuts.
While well-intentioned, these efforts fail to recognise the hidden
opportunities that pandemics of this scale & magnitude have the
potential to unlock.
To balance the quarterly capitalism with long term value creation,
leaders should skilfully balance the immediate survival actions
with the new strategic choices by allocating equal time, resources
& actions to score at both ends of the Barbell.
1#
Plan for business recovery using the ‘Barbell Strategy’
balancing the immediate survival & the gradual
transformation & foster innovativeness.
Mobilize a War Room with combat warriors on one end
& an Innovation Garage with dreamers on the other.
#
#

4. STOP CHASING THE LONG TAIL
Long tails thrive on the economics of abundance when everything
is available to everyone. Nothing could be further from the truth in
the post Covid world
To provide for small, niche offerings that customers expect,
requires dozens of facilities stocking tens of thousands of items
with intermittent demand that suck away valuable company
resources. It is therefore, vital for leaders to understand the
profitability of the segment because the extremely low demand for
the large array of products in the tail means that simply recovering
the costs of producing them is challenging.
So, it is prudent to trim the long tail of fringe sales with limited
demand & and focus on the core, high value, evergreen offerings.
2#
Get to the ‘head’ of the demand curve by concentrating
on popular & hit products.
Cut the complexity & hidden costs of SKU proliferation
in distribution & inventory supply.
#
#
POPULARITY
PRODUCTS

5. SOCIAL PROOF YOUR BUSINESS
Unpredictability & ambiguity is the fuel that activates and feeds the
process of social proof. When faced with an unfamiliar situation,
an unsure individual would feel the need to refer to other people
for guidance.
So, expect a more guarded & self-protected society to approach
the marketplace with a lot of diffidence & anxiety. Consumers will
seek reassurance from the action of others leading to a rise in
herd mentality.
Social proofing is a very powerful weapon of persuasion and
influence that uses the power of numbers to help businesses win
back the consumer trust. Use it wisely.
3#
Win back consumer confidence with the wisdom of
the crowd & the power of numbers.
Weave in authentic stories, real time reviews &
feedback loops in every customer transaction.
#
#
Illustration by Robert Neubecker

6. MOVE YOUR SUPPLY CHAINS FROM PART-TIME USE,
FULL-TIME COST TO FULL-TIME USE, FULL TIME VALUE.
Success of business today is inextricably linked to the
performance of supply chains. Multi-channel distribution
eco-system, ‘just-in-time’ delivery & long tail SKUs have resulted in
highly complex but in-efficient supply chains. Consumers have
never been more demanding in terms of immediacy & level of
personalization they expect.
The current supply chain components for most businesses are
rigid & built for exclusive in-house use with limited agility to adapt
to external demand volatility. Additionally, the physical
supply-chain processes such as warehousing & transportation are
often not fast or flexible enough to cope with the large numbers of
smaller orders that Omni-channel requires.
4#
Create greater flexibility across the supply chain by making planning,
manufacturing, distribution, and logistics more adaptive with the use
of design thinking & technology that enables visibility & ensures
agility of inventory flow through the supply chain at any given point in
time.
Create multi-purpose supply chains with flexibility of a plug & play
model to outsource, in-source, part-source components to ease out
redundancies and extract full value of each supply chain component.
#
#

7. PROMOTE FRANCHISEE STORES,
RESTRAIN COMPANY OWNED STORES.
Historical evidence proves that franchisees perform far
better than company stores during crisis. They have a
greater perseverance to ride out the storm as they are far
more invested in the business, sometimes with their lives’
savings. With increased commitment & reduced capital outflow,
organizations should bet on supporting franchisees to hasten
their recovery.
Franchisees are smart entrepreneurs with better survival
instincts.
They are tenacious & have better tolerance of ambiguity.
Have the power of the brand & shared resources of built-in
systems, technology, training & marketing support to sustain
through difficult times.
#
#
#
PROS CONS
5#

8. TREAT EVERY CONSUMER LIKE CUSTOMER
The words “customer” and “consumers” are often
interchangeably used and are easily confused with one another.
Agreed, that the customer & consumer can be the same but at a
time like this, it’s the mind-set that delineates the two clearly.
The typical consumer, devoured by endless abundance of
everything & swayed by marketing pressures will be replaced by
an exacting customer judiciously assessing every rupee spent.
These customers are extremely likely to bypass a brand if they
sense they are being manipulated or bamboozled in any way.
# The stereotypical hedonistic consumer fostered by artificially
induced wants without regard for the consequences will be
replaced by the conscientious customers leaning towards
brands that do the right thing.
# With reduced purchasing power, they will shift spends
towards meaningful consumptions as against mindless
consumption & grant their approval to products & services
that offer 'better' instead of 'more'.
6#

9. THINK IN PARTS to SOLVE FOR THE WHOLE
Highly uncertain conditions call for decentralized but mutually
synchronized small actions that impact the overall solution.
When change is unpredictable & rapid, innovating by breaking
things down will make sure you innovate without the risk of big
losses. It allows for quick adaptation to changing circumstances.
7#
# Bury the grand strategy & foster small scale modular thinking.
#In a networked economy, big solutions can be found by solving
a series of small inter-connected problems.
#With the rapid & unpredictable nature of change,
'incrementalism' is a safer bet.

10. FIND YOUR HEADROOM FOR GROWTH
In difficult times, companies instinctively unleash a flurry of new
activity, often overlooking the growth opportunities that are right
in front of them. In their hurry to make up for lost time & see quick
results, they get easily tempted by tactical opportunities or get
lured by the idea of diversification without a clear sense of where
the true opportunity for #growth exists. That can prove costly,
perhaps with disastrous consequences, at a time when resources
are scarce & getting the highest yield on these resources is
paramount.
To avoid falling in that trap, it is important to play to your
strengths & unlock #in-market potential from the ‘existing’ by
understanding where your real #headroom lies.
# Nurture your ‘loyalists’.
# Ignore the ‘competition loyals’.
# Lure the ‘split loyals’ with tangible propositions.
# Park the ‘polygamous loyals’ in the queue for better times.
8#
HighValue, low headroom
HARD CORE LOYALS
Belong to you
HighValue, high headroom
SPLIT LOYALS
Belong to a few
Low value, low headroom
POLYGAMOUS LOYALS
Belong to many
Low value, high headroom
COMPETITION LOYALS
Belong to competition

11. Authored by:
Anisha Motwani
Innovation & Brand Consultant
Author & Podcaster
Contact us:
Anisha@stormthenorm.com
https://soundcloud.com/stormthenorm
THE
FUZZY
FRONT
END
Storm The Norm is a Brand &
Innovation facilitation firm that
specializes in the Fuzzy Front End.
It helps organisations revitalise
their present core and create the
future core through innovation.