Change is a foot…Possibly

May 06th, 2019 | Posted by: Pro Business | No Comments

Spring is normally a time for change and for new beginnings and this year we could be confronting some of the greatest changes we have had to face for a long time. Whatever your view on leaving the EU, whether you think it will make for positive change or that it could be the worst thing you may ever encounter, it is still going to be important to look at all the potential impacts you might face and to prepare for them as best you can.

Along these lines, I suggest that if you haven’t done so already, make time in your day – by which I mean time when your business brain is still fully functioning and not any spare minute after paperwork is completed at around 10pm or so … you know who you are! – to think about possible effects and plan for them.

You see, for many of us in this lovely part of the UK, it seems as if we are well cushioned against the ‘slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’ (Hamlet) but actually, they have a nasty way of finding their way through and causing a good deal of damage when they do.

Let’s consider a potential strand of an imaginary business which shows how we may be caught out. Suppose we have a customer in the U.K. who produces Doojummiflips and who buys necessary components from us. At first sight it looks as though the two of us will survive any major changes which might be brought about by Brexit.

When examined more closely, however, we might find that the majority of our customer’s products end up in Europe. Suddenly, we find ourselves in a far less confident position. It may make no difference to our customer’s business at all, but we may have to face some significant differences. What if his European customers insist that all Doojummiflips have parts which are sourced on the continent and not in the UK? Suddenly we have a problem and could lose valuable business.

It may seem a slightly convoluted proposition, but it’s one that could happen and one that could land us in trouble if we aren’t prepared for it. If, on closer examination, you find that your goods or services are partly reliant upon customers who earn part or all or their income from Europe or further afield, you may wish to look at possibilities of spreading your client base to include more domestic markets or some that work within the World Trade Organisation rules.

As a young slip of a girl, I worked for an organisation in London which set up huge turnkey projects in the Middle East and Africa. It was complicated and yet fascinating to be involved in ensuring that all the parts worked together to enable the contracts to click into place. In a sense, we all need to be aware of all the parts that make the ‘whole’ in our business world. To steal a quote from John Donne, ‘No man’ and no business ‘is an island, entire of itself’. It’s well worth being aware of that in these fluid times.

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