Business: some lessons from the past 12 months

  1. It’s never what you think is going to happen that actually does
    Brexit dominated our thinking, then along came COVID-19 proving business plans and budgets are largely fantasy
  2. The highly leveraged and indebted company is not a good model
    Even if interest rates are low, debt is an accursed burden when a business is facing financial challenges.
  3. Long leases and upward only rent reviews cannot continue to be the norm (and the Business Rates system needs overhauling)
    Rent must not be allowed to be too high a proportion of overheads and the Business Rates system needs to be re-examined. Plus, Rents/Rates in the high street are too high.
  4. Darwinism (adapt & survive) applies to business more than we thought
    In business, creativity and innovation are key and many companies have risen to the challenges faced at every level, re-engineering their businesses rapidly to adapt to changed circumstances
  5. Employees respond well to pressure – and must be trusted more – they do so when they can see plainly that they have a stake in the survival of their companies
  6. WFH goes hand in hand with trust – flexibility is the watchword in how people should be allowed to work and contribute, BUT, stating the obvious, there must be the work to do
  7. Part-time working needs to be part of any company’s employment policy
  8. Large offices, daily commutes, business travel, business lunches and meetings all need reviewing
  9. Corporate greed comes in many forms and includes ludicrous top level salaries/bonuses and excessive dividend extraction – prudence and fairness must prevail and whatever happened to the ‘rainy day’ notion?
  10. Our values must change – what really matters in life cannot be measured in monetary returns

Posted on December 31 2020 by Neil Thomas

 

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