In this series of write ups, this is the 2nd post in sequence to the first one which was titled these times myself and My family. One of the equally important aspects in life is actually how we live our life. Some work too hard and some don’t work at all. Some live in the comfort of inheritance and some don’t have the next meal planned, leave alone planning commercials. However since the last month or so most of us may have already realised without any meditation required that change is the only constant. Change does happen around us and keeps pushing us to thrive and hang on. Keeping this in mind the sooner we board the change bandwagon the better. Change further leads to improvement.
We would like to therefore bring into focus the entire commercial aspect of our “money life” or call it a business or an employment.
First of all each one of us needs to analyse our approach towards a career. Are we career oriented or are we satisfied with whatever we have. Are we the saving kinds or the ones with insatiable hunger to hoard cash and jewellery and real estate, cars, clothes and the list is endless. In the quest of desire fulfilment we forgot ourselves and who we were, what is the resultant? We became even more vulnerable as personalities because of the various moralistic compromises we made on the way and of course we paid a price for the wealth and affluence. We generally end up paying with our morals and scruples, list of endless compromises and we become empty individuals. These are blessed creatures of God to whom any kind of situation in life is acceptable.Lets call them cool cats.
Well a cool cat is empty, which means there is an acute shortage of feelings in him/her. No signs of empathy, does not know selflessness or the concept of giving back to life. So let us first give it a thought for what kind of show are we running for ourselves. Are we cool cats or genuine humans. It has to be improved upon if required for a restructure and based upon certain values. Values are a must like a basement on which the building of personality stands. For example for a herbal medicine manufacturer the value most important is to ensure top quality by giving the pure form and quantity of each ingredient mentioned on the label. For a corporate executive values of not bitching behind somebody’s back, not playing politics all the time and being loyal to the organization and hardworking is important. A corporate executive has to believe that in the end it is only the hard work that pays and ofcourse the continuous process of enrichment which builds capability which basically or skeletally emanates from personality and traits and the type of upbringing in the formative years. Self pride is important but self ego is not. For another example a government employee has to perform his/her duties as a private firm executive, first of being answerable to the self and then the boss. Redundant atmospheres and environs can change with one person. So value based platform is of utmost importance.
Now let’s progress further and first discuss business or an entrepreneurial set up. For a manufacturer cost saving is most important now. New ways of saving costs need to be identified since there shall be cash starvation all around. It ofcourse does not mean firing people left right or centre. Each activity needs to be reviewed for identifying for costs lowering. Alternate sourcing models need to be identified. Payments need to be restructured to get better leverage. Advances or partial payments in procurement or vendor development should command more premium. For those in e commerce deliveries need to stream line each protocol to squeeze out any delayed throughputs. A choice of innate product pull due to product performance in the long run is better off than incurring high marketing and promotional costs. Product or brand pull acquires more significance with long term marketing goals with reduced push costs or zero push ideally. Digital platforms need to be adapted for promotions which have a high yield instead of brick and mortar age old protocols. Predictive strategies need to be adapted to and approach needs to be highly adaptive instead of being stagnant. For example a manufacturer needs to promote a less range of products which are bread and butter for him than to loose focus just because it was trendy to have a long list of items on the company brochure expressing manufacturing capability and actually resulting in focus being lost on all. Lack of digital knowledge can be compensated by hiring professionals or professional’s services or taking third party subletting services. It would not be a bad idea to wind up businesses which have sub par yields and to invest into more lucrative ventures. A wider portfolio has a better chance of survival. Remember that all is not well is the basic premises on which every review , plan or strategy should be based. Future is what we never planned for and that is why we are in so much insecurity now. Therefore future needs to be planned as well as the present, bysplitting plans into short term and long term. Due diligence frequency should be increased manifold to ensure a robust system of balance and checks and should be made more and more participative involving employees, trusted friends and partners, family members etc.
Businesses need to just focus upon cash. Liquidity is the most important and the only factor that matters now. Profits can take a second seat. A healthy growing turnover needs to be the prime target for each venture.
Cash is king. Focus on cash rather than margins or Profitability. Closely look at altering consumer behaviours. Collaboration and empathy will be irreplaceable competencies now. Redundancies in the whole process need to be dispensed with.
For those in employment – Most important of all is developing new skills and competencies. Self enrichment in terms of skill, knowledge, widening scope of work are prime most now. Drawing salary month on month at the same level hoping that the boss will not replace you with the younger generation lot is too much to ask for. It kept us afloat previously but now it may not. Experience does matter and we need to enrich it and widen its scope further. For example a person in vendor development can widen his scope by adopting a digital sourcing system to reduce costs and increased alternate sourcing channels. A sales professional can improve upon his /her skills and develop more relevant sales pitches and promotional materials. Online courses for working professionals assume more importance now.
Cash is king and in the game of chess the king is not supposed to die. Therefore save the king. Voluntary contributions for example to the provident fund should double up. Alternate sources of income well within the possible sphere of concerned skills and nature of employment need to be thought of. Government servants especially need to develop and enrich their on job skills through self spend even if the government is not. Utilization of moments which is optimum utilization of time needs to be adopted.
The days of passing time are over. Only those who now conserve time for stuffing in more and more activities and events into their lives will thrive. 24 hours in a day should yield the result of 36 hours. As the middle classes shrink further, the poor more poorer and the rich more comfortable, there will be a mad race to survive and excel and only the fittest will surface. All the laws of the jungle will be applicable now, however morals and values will acquire more importance in the new set up as we now enter an integrated and wholesome system of the world. It is a more shrunk and viscous business or employment sphere hence more energy and thought shall be required to beat the friction. So friends lets restructure and hang on to dear life and give our respective scenarios a careful thought and an even chance to chug on.
#immunity #jobs #business #restructure #meditation