It seems that hardly a day goes by without a new and negative headline about the UK’s decision to leave the EU and the prospect of an adverse outcome from the negotiations.
Here’s a selection from the Independent at the time of writing: “David Davis has conceded that Britain’s Brexit withdrawal agreement will probably favour the EU”, “UK financial watchdog warns bank moves likely to be irreversible”, and “20% of UK restaurants at risk of going bust due to Brexit”.
It is hardly scientific, but gives some flavour of the atmosphere currently dominating the headlines on the issue.
Whether business owners follow the news or not, it is hardly possible to be completely immune to the climate of uncertainty that is surrounding the process, not least because reportedly some 58 studies have been carried out on the likely impact of leaving the EU on various sectors of the UK economy, details of which the Government has so far declined to publish, allegedly for fear of jeopardising negotiations, but may now be forced to after a vote in the House of Commons.
What further pressure last week’s interest rate rise to 0.5% will put on businesses remains to be seen, but the prospect of further rate rises is unlikely to help any business struggling with debt repayments.
No wonder, then, that many businesses are putting growth and investment plans on hold and concentrating on short term survival.
But ultimately this is not a sustainable position to be in since the business that fails to innovate is unlikely to thrive or grow and stasis is generally seen as a forerunner to failure.
What can a business do in the face of continuing uncertainty?
The obvious is to say, “keep calm and carry on”.
But also, acknowledge that fear of the future can become a self-fulfilling prophecy that encourages short term thinking, caution and at worst frozen panic. It is often the case that where some see only looming disaster others see opportunities.
So, we would urge businesses to do their best to look on the bright side, think and plan for at least medium term and do everything they can to keep their businesses in the best possible shape, from carefully managing cash flow and monitoring cost but at the same time actively looking for opportunities.
This may mean getting help from a restructuring advisor to thoroughly review all its operations and identify the strengths and weaknesses and suggest ways to transform, pivot, slim down or otherwise revise the business model and update processes in preparation for embracing the opportunities as they emerge.