10 Tips To Help Cushion Your Coming Back To Business; For Small Private Health Businesses In Nigeria – The Coming Back Phase
By,
Ayinla Daniel, RN.
Charles Forerunner | https://unsplash.com/@charles_forerunner
The pandemic is over, everyone looks fine, it’s time to get back to business. Well, I must let you know, that It is not going to be business as usual, things must have changed, and for you to survive, you must adapt – change.
The effect is a global one. Many new companies that are not able to keep up are already folding up. Many jobs have been lost, though someone like Jeff Bezos, happens to be getting richer amidst the whole crisis.
I wrote this article for small private health care businesses [small private hospitals, clinics, etc] in Nigeria, but the principles can also be adopted by small business. MTN, GLO and other huge companies don’t need this help. Hope I am right.
Having made some research on this topic, I was able to come up with ideas that can help us here in Nigeria. Adapting the information I got out there to suit our own peculiar and harsh terrain.
So, sit back, relax and enjoy, it won’t last more than 5 seconds – oops! 5 seconds already elapsed!
Nobody is coming to your rescue. Support funds or whatever it is called does not exist here in Nigeria, so you have got to stay afloat, you must device means to keep your new hospital/health care business and whatever business you own alive.
• Mind Your Spending, Cut Your Costs, But Do It Wisely: You may need the services of a finance manager. One who is experienced in the business of managing the finances of organisations (hope they don’t charge you too much). You need to make wise financial decisions, choices that will favour the survival and growth of your organisation. Mind your spending, cut your costs, but do it wisely.
• Did You Lay Off Some of Your Employees?: If you did, then, I think it is wise to call them back. They are part of you and have been with you through the storm. Believe me, after the storm, comes full sunshine. You are definitely going to come back stronger, if only you decide your self and work towards it. So, call them all back. When they come back, you guys can settle on a mild compromise, make them understand what is going on. They are your team!
Let me keep it simple, keep your old hands, keep your team close. Though some businesses might not be able to help it, they will have to trim their laces. If you have to, then do it wisely.
• Learn From It, So That Your Future Is Battle Ready: What have you learnt so far from the pandemic? One lesson, learn to prepare for the worse. Many businesses will close by the end of the pandemic because they did not prepare for the worst to happen, nobody thought about it, we were all busy living.
I am not being pessimistic, I am just being realistic. Countries have to learn, hospitals have to learn businesses have to learn. Bill Gates warned the world about all that you see today, but maybe no one took him too seriously, they felt he was talking about Softwares and Microsoft. “What does the software guy know, the CDC said.” (Just kidding, they never said that).
We had at least 2 years “post gate warning” to get serious, but we never got serious, and now, what is the result of our refusal to heed the warnings of Gates? Death!
Learn from all that is happening today so that your future is battle-ready.
• Do An Overview of Your Strategies – Will These Methods Work For Me? This will be a good time to do a deep study of your strategies, or better put it, your business model. Do you think your original model will be able to make you bulletproof? If your new growing hospital is hit by the bullets of economic war – will you survive it? Forget about the big guys, who have a good number of company clients to keep their wheels oiled and leave some insulin in the refrigerators. You are just starting, and you need help.
Wisdom says, take a serious look at your strategies and tweak it if necessary. The aftermath is going to be full of a lot of adjustments. And many won’t even make it through the adjustment phase. But you can, you don’t have to die adjusting!
• The Customer Needs Your Attention Now!: Hospitals should learn how to take care of their patients/clients. And I strongly believe that this is one gap digital health is going to bridge. We here at Care City are thinking every day of how to utilise the power of digital health to help revolutionise health care delivery in Nigeria and Africa. If you want a free consult on how we can help, talk with us, we are just a chat away.
Marcelo Leal | https://unsplash.com/@marceloleal80
• Don’t Neglect Innovation: My favourite. Innovation is the portal that leads everyone into a brighter future. Hospitals/small health care businesses that truly want to be at the forefront in health care must be able to develop the innovation culture. Learn to create, to design solutions to problems, to bring up methods that improve an existing system – positive disruptions.
The pandemic has alerted advance countries to the importance of digital health. Why don’t you begin to inch towards the light and embrace innovation, embrace digital health?
Now you will need to tap into your innovative reserves because you have to survive. We are not too far away, and we will be glad to be of help to your new hospital/health care business.
• Have You Visited The Local Communities?: Hospitals are advised to do this. When it is all over, plan mini outreaches and go into the local communities. Tell them you are around and available. It’s a form of charity and also a business move, you are telling them you care. If you have not done that before, it will be good to do one now. Design a unique outreach, one that addresses a peculiar situation in your immediate community.
• Learn From The Bigger Ones: Many have gone through tougher situations and they survived. Now, they have made things easier for you, by learning through those tough times. All you need to do is simply learn from them. Businesses that do not learn will in not time cease to exist, because learning is the nitty-gritty of true leadership, and business is leadership in disguise?
• Don’t Neglect Your Social Media Presence: Seriously, you do not have a social media presence? Well, I hope that’s not your hospital. Because if it is, then you may not be able to crawl out of your box. Social media is a platform, I call it an infinite playground, where everyone can create their unique spot, influence their own crowd and launch their products and services into the sky!
After the pandemic, you are advised to utilize the energy of social media. You should have been showing your presence during the pandemic though, but in case you forgot or did not care about it, then the time is post-pandemic, start doing it now!
Well, that brings us to the end, I hope you enjoyed it, and I believe you are willing to apply the information that you have gathered from this small post.
Keep your antennas up and alert, we will constantly provide you with accurate and well-researched information on how you can run and maintain your small health care businesses in Nigeria and Africa, especially in times like this – hard and uncertain times.
Stay safe, we need you here to help make the world a better place.
