Which Business Mode Are You In?

This economy is throwing all of us around, not understanding where the next wave of bad or good news is going to come from. So where does your business sit in the world of growth and or scale? Are you operating in a positive, negative or stable realm of business? Or in other words, is your business on the offence, defence or stable.  

Over the past several weeks, we have been working tirelessly at preparing new templates around human resources, strategy, operations and leadership. This economy is preparing us to be ready for the new wave of business that will be asking how they operate in it. When the doors are allowed to open back up, there won’t be a rush of people going into them. People are still going to be fearful and timid about going into larger spaces and interacting. So where does that leave people? Businesses need to decide what they need to do, so most of us then know where to turn.  

We will now turn to different modes that companies could be operating in, deciding to go or stay.  

Business Management Consulting | Which Business Mode Are You In?

Business Offence Mode

So, the way you were operating in business before everything closed down, is now bringing up new ways of doing business. The simple thing right now, is that a lot of people are working from home, or you have moved from a brick and mortar business to supplying online resources. What is your business now doing to achieve results so that you are not shutting down? For the purpose of this sub-heading, your business is on the offence. What will you be on the lookout for as you continue the offence;

  • What is your added value now? What are you providing clients? 
  • People need support and reassurance
  • Understand what your client’s and staff’s new normal is because that has now changed. 
  • Are you willing to take risks, then if so, are you moving forward and implementing your plan? 
  • Strategize what the people have around you have as individual skill sets to gain momentum.  
  • Communicate with all stakeholders around you on a consistent basis. Ensuring everyone is on the same page is critical right now especially if people and teams are working apart.  
  • Ensure that your core values are still aligned with the product or service you are delivering.  

Business Defence Mode

The business that we are noticing getting hit the hardest are tourism, retail and restaurants. They rely on the public to make their business survive and thrive. Therefore, they are going into defence mode. Can they sell online, can they offer future gift cards towards travel or can they offer pick-up or delivery services? Regardless of what industry you face issues with, you still must consider the list above and summarized again:

  • Strategy – how is this time impacting your planned-out strategy. Where is the change needed in the short and long term 
  • Human Resources – have you needed to lay off people, terminated them? How has this impacted your future human resources template/manual?
  • Operations – you probably don’t need as many people anymore. How will you handle the added stress to still deliver for clients?
  • Leadership – how have you communicated with your staff about what is going on now or in the future.
  • Innovation – you need to prepare for the future. Prepare, plan and innovate your business to either reduce in size or get ready for a growth surge.  


The most important thing to continually repeat is communication. Stay involved, stay in touch and be truthful with people to the best of your knowledge. Without communication, people become increasingly worried and stressed. All people want is to know what is happening.  

Business Stable Mode

Keeping stability can be challenging as well. We notice this a lot in government entities. Yes, they are reducing or deferring money to be paid by people, but overall, they are remaining stable. There is leadership considering different options on the path forward, but all the highlights in the past two sub-headings apply to remain stable as well. If anything, senior staff have the time to sit back and analyze where they are and where they are going.  

Our business consulting services always surround the success of your business and the success of your employees. If you need someone to speak with about a path forward, feel free to reach out to us at Future To Now Consulting.