Benjamin Franklin, the founding fathers of the United States once mentioned, “Out of adversity,  comes opportunity.” Have you ever thought about this quote during the pandemic we’re still facing?

Deciding what’s the best move for your company can be very challenging in these unprecedented times, right? If you are overwhelmed, then you are in the right place! Let’s break down our thoughts together and learn more from Luke Ware, President Director and Head of Corporate Risk & Broking of Willis Tower Watsons. 

As the last mentor in the virtual mentorship program of YCSE Academy 2.0 by @america last week, Luke shared his 17 years of experience in the corporate world working in different countries such as Australia, Thailand, Norway, and the United Kingdom before he became the Country Leader of Willis Tower Watsons Indonesia.

Drawing from his experience facing challenges in unique settings, he suggested 3 values needed in a decision making process for Top 10 social enterprises, or anyone in a similar situation, to implement in these tough times:

1. Protect core revenue and take care of your customers

As a social enterprise, the first measure that you need to do is question yourself: Is the problem your enterprises are trying to solve before the pandemic still relevant today? By making your service and products relevant in this time of crisis, you can easily protect your core revenue and customers.

First thing first, accurate data and information will always be your best starting point to get it done. Make sure to use relevant and accurate forward-looking data because historical data is no longer important in this context. 

2. Find your new growth path

After succeeding the first step, you may start to find a way to create new growth for your enterprises. Try to view your business from customers’ perspective, crisis is an opportunity to build trust! Even though you offer things that are in high demand, do not make it as an opportunistic way for growth. 

Make time to check and confirm what your peer group has been doing: are they doing a relevant business? After that, you can learn and decide whether you need to make a unique approach that differs you from them.

The other point that you should not forget is to make the most use of your online resources to penetrate and expand the market. We know that online platforms have been the people’s savior to do shopping, right?

3. Shifting long-term strategy to embrace the “never normal condition”

To face the unknown, creating a long-time strategy will be your best investment. However, long-time strategy needs a lot of preparation and stress-testing in various conditions! This measure will make you slowly embrace the uncertainty. In this process, you and your team can think about various ways to effectively run business under stress. 

As resilience is something that is needed in every crisis situation, the next thing you have to check is the resiliency of your business.  From Luke’s point of view, what resilience means for businesses can be as simple as having team members of diverse backgrounds, experience, ages, genders, et cetera. This will help you and your colleague to think differently about risks, challenges, and opportunities.

Luke’s last suggestion in the session is to never put your egg in one basket! Do not rely on a single supplier or customer, because if they are facing a problem you can’t solve, it may cause a devastating impact on your business.

After hearing Luke’s experience in leading a business under uncertainties, the Top 10 social enterprises YCSE Academy 2.0 by @america surely have a different perspective to think about the challenges to their business right now! 

Let’s find out more about what The 10 participants have been up to in their journey by joining their event every Wednesday at 2 pm in @america social media channels! Check out our updates to see what’s coming up next week, and do not forget to mark your calendar. See you there!