To Grow and Maintain Growth… Revisited..

 

Even before the pandemic, the world hasn’t been a bed of roses. However, the pandemic has made us face some undeniable facts. Let us briefly recall these facts.

 

The behaviour of a company in the market varies depending to its scale. To summarize:

 

– If the company’s scale is large enough, it should shape the market, that is, it should follow constructive best practices.

– If it has a small scale, it should shape itself according to the market

 

But obviously, there is a constant competition between the small and the large-scale companies, which should be taken seriously. The large ones sometimes put pressure on government and use disproportionate power, while the small ones try to protect their interests through local politics. This situation is not unique to Turkey. However, today, the cases where large businesses abuse the small ones are seen the most in countries like Turkey. Therefore, the small ones need to increase their resistance to protect themselves.

 

Even before the pandemic, the world hasn’t been a bed of roses. However, I can say that the Pandemic has made us face some facts. Let us briefly recall these facts.

 

First of all, the behaviour of companies in the market varies according to their scale. To summarize briefly:

 

– If it has enough scale, it will shape the market, that is, it will be a market maker.

– If its scale is small, it will take shape according to the market

 

Of course, while things are flowing rapidly, there is a competition between the small and the big ones, which should be taken seriously. While the big ones sometimes put pressure on politics and use disproportionate power, the small ones try to protect their interests through local politics. This situation is not unique to Turkey. However, in the 21st century, the cases where the elders abuse the little ones the most are experienced in countries like Turkey. Therefore, the little ones need to increase their resistance to protect themselves.

 

So, to be honest, I think it would be helpful to quickly list what companies, big or small, should do:

 

1. Creating Common Sense with Stakeholders: This stage is about eliminating the vulnerabilities that companies have not been able to solve so far and “finding out the right thing to do”. In other words, this is the initial implementation of “governance”. At this stage, it is essential to gather the right information and improve the perception of the company by strengthening ties with customers, suppliers, employees, and business partners.

 

2. Immunization: This stage requires to identify the company’s cash flow problems, supply chain disruptions, sales, and marketing deficiencies, and finally, to ensure the restoration of the company in such a strong way that will allow it to survive if the possibility of a long-term lockdown in a new pandemic becomes tangible.

 

3. Planning the return to work: So far the first two stages have focused on the damage assessment process and the necessary repairs. This stage deals with creating the necessary action plan to restore the company’s former lustre before the lockdowns and obstructions. Obviously, companies will need to reach their pre-pandemic performance, but without rushing too much. To accomplish this task, they have to finish the planning they had started before and redo the things that were wrongly done in the pre-pandemic period.

 

4. Discovering the New Normal: The fourth stage necessitates predicting what to do next, both for the company and for the competitors, and adopting the “best practices” as a positive outcome of the reflexes developed in the face of business interruption.

 

5. Reform: Predict and follow the legislative changes to the sectors and the economy, to have a clear idea of the direction the sectors will head in.

 

Here’s one more piece of advice: Exporting is an activity that will increase the resilience of small-scale companies. Because foreign demand is larger and more stable than domestic demand. Companies that suffer from scale problems in the domestic market can engage in exporting in order to enlarge their scale and consequently join the global chain, which will not only improve their resilience but also cement their perception as a brand.

 

Compete with healthy companies abroad instead of grappling with fat companies at home. Your customers would manage you just as well as your board of directors, remember that. So don’t mess with the “local” large companies for nothing, seek greener pastures.

 

I posted this article in May 2021. After traveling every inch of Turkey during last year, I felt the need to share it with you once again.

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