YOUR LOCAL BUSINESS DIGESTBusinesses encouraged to be adaptive in new era

• Date: 05 December 2020
• Published date: 05 December 2020
• Publication title: Daily Post, The (Rotorua, New Zealand)

“If there is one thing 2020 has taught us, it is to be ready for the unknown and prepare to adapt quickly,” Money Metrics Rotorua owner Kelly Lelieveld said. “Combining this experience with the basic principles of ensuring your company is financially fit for the future will enable companies to navigate the new norm.”

The qualified chartered accountant has seen a noticeable change in the mindset of business owners. Many are venturing into business for the first time, and there is more awareness of the need to access cash reserves on a rainy day.

“In the last eight months, clients that had strong working capital who were focused on reducing unnecessary costs experienced less stress and more positive financial outcomes than others who didn’t,” Lelieveld said.

“When a company has working capital it means they are in a position to pay their current liabilities with current assets. It is a good sign of short-term financial health and during Covid it has meant those in a strong position have been able to look after staff, pivot their business model and in some cases even grow.

“Preparing a careful forecast, following a budget and being mindful of where their money goes will help business owners make intelligent decisions. They will have a better chance of responding to abrupt changes and have the ability to capitalise on new opportunities.”

She highlights that no one was able to accurately predict how 2020 would pan out and what eventuated was unexpected for many.

“Aside from the government subsidy, the drive to support locals and an extraordinary domestic tourism market became a vital safety net for some clients and a great opportunity for others,” she said. “It has given them time to adapt and refocus on what they need to do to prepare the future”.

Local support instrumental for businessesOne success story during the pandemic has been Money Metrics customer Deep Kumar, owner of Giovanni’s Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria at Lynmore Junction. “Nothing about our business has been the same, but at Giovanni’s we were lucky,” Kumar said.

“We had always based our business formula on having a good location and establishing a strong connection with our local community so we weren’t reliant on tourists.

“When we emerged from lockdown, the support from locals was instrumental in helping us get through and we cannot thank them enough.”

But that support wasn’t going to be enough to prevent redundancies among his valued Giovanni’s staff, some of them family. In an industry being heavily affected by Covid, the young entrepreneur was already in the process of opening a new restaurant in Christchurch, but set out to explore other opportunities to...