‘Lockdown creating new needs, opportunities’

 

 

 

The EXIM Forum of the Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA) recently conducted a session on “COVID 19 - Impact Assessment & Business Continuity Planning” through zoom app. The objective of the session was to make entrepreneur and others aware of the guidelines for resumption of business activities during the lockdown. Charudatta Pande, Co-founder of Suhrud Consultants, conducted the session and spoke about the impact of COVID-19 on Indian business and preparation for responding effectively.

 

At the outset, he said that as an entrepreneur or management person, one must realize that new needs and opportunities are also being created because of the lockdown. “To capitalise on these opportunities, we need to begin with assessing the impact of the evolving situation on our business,” he added. He proposed a four-stage framework for Indian companies:- Measure the impact on business, Identify top challenges, design mitigation strategies and prepare a detailed action plan with resources and timelines. Charudatta shared the templates for companies to study their cash flow, inventory, value chain and sales forecasts to derive the working capital requited for next 12 months.

 

He also suggested strategies for companies to calculate the resources (people and equipment) they would need. The empathy and communication with the team and partners were stressed as the two most important factors for dealing with people. The people retention and optimisation strategies were elaborated. Charudatta shared examples from their work with the leading organisation to help participants appreciate how they may deploy the strategies in their organisation. The session concluded with the most important aspect for seniors and entrepreneurs - Managing Themselves. Charudatta urged the members to remain positive, fit and connected. A SWOT Analysis at the individual and company level was proposed to identify areas for strengthening. The session concluded on a positive note with the participants appreciating the clear framework and guidelines for them to propagate through the challenging times.