It’s November and 8 weeks to go before year end—what an eventful year! So big corporates involved in crafting corporate strategies—review of 2024 Strategic Plans vs Actual Performance and truth is it’s difficult to plan in a VUCAH Economy. Even at national level we have seen budget deficits forcing authorities to re craft budgets and seek additional resources. In this economy—incremental approaches the most ideal. Plan for short periods like 6 months—and then make adjustments on the road.

The purpose of the write up is more on the financial side—simplifying it for non-finance folks, and generally get an overview of what’s coming in 2025.

We first simplify our review by looking at 2 critical financial reports, The Profit and Loss (P&L) and the Balance Sheet. We can ignore the Cashflow Statement for now,

Covid Impact on Balance Sheets:

When I assisted several small to medium sized companies on strategic planning last year—The Covid-19 Impact was very much still alive on the Balance Sheets with some Debtors from as far back as 2020 still appearing. Some debtors simply closed shop during the pandemic period. Some were struggling to pay and the question became—to continue pursuing legal channels or write them off?

Similarly some had material creditors which they were struggling to pay as they too were adversely impacted by the pandemic. Yes Covid-19 now history but a deep analysis of many a balance sheet shows unresolved after-effects.

Climate Change Impact:

Unprecedented dwindling of water levels at Kariba directly emanating from Climate Change and the impact felt on operating costs—Energy costs up as companies invested in alternative energy. The impact felt industry wide jerking up costs of doing business. As if this was enough—joining the bandwagon—Elnino inspired drought during the 2023/2024 Agriculture season. National forex allocated to cereals imports further ballooning the trade deficit. Impact on disposable incomes and did the devaluation came as a surprise?

Non Compliance Penalties and Garnish Orders:

Struggling to balance the books and forced to sell products and services at economic sense forex rates, offloading goods onto the informal sector for survival and all sorts of financial management gymnastics. The result –garnishes from bank accounts further compounding the woes of the working capital position.

External Regulatory Changes:

Covid-19 After effects+ Climate Change+ Other conditions=less income(tax) available for the nation. Therefore triggering a volatile environment where survival strategies by individuals and the corporate sector attracting Statutory Instruments Regulations—some coming at short notice, some catching everyone by total surprise—further fuelling uncertainty. Companies adjust to a new environment—but not for long—and there is a big quake—and you have to adjust to the new reality. Essentially moving in cycles of uncertainty and constant adjustments and realignments.

So impact on income ((increased competition (some of it from smuggling of goods by the informal sector), low disposable incomes, fluid regulatory environments etc)) and on costs we have inflation+ Covid-19 After Effects+Climate Change+Other conditions such as increased cyber threats, thefts and others.

Hail the financial professionals helping in decision making to keep companies afloat. Cost containment Yes, but feed forward control strategies complex in 2024 and expected to be more complexar(sic) in 2025.

So in short this is the financial performance overview we get from the above analysis. Now in strategic planning we do not start from the Balance Sheet—in fact the financials come last—it’s the corporate activities, skills, systems and business models employed that will determine the success of organizations in 2025. They are later summarized in financial form.

And there are many approaches employed in strategic planning, however don’t forget to analyse the balance sheet….in most cases by the time you reach the balance sheet—you would have exhausted all the energy on reviews and brainstorming with fatigue inevitable.

Headwinds are blowing across the world with so many changes taking place resulting in some cases, companies laying off employees.

Now the question is what next after retrenchment especially when it’s coming as a surprise?

We cover below some of the tips that can help you survive or even thrive;

• Take time off and clear your mind. It can be a holiday, or short trip to your rural area. Just move away from your normal environment. Relax and then plan the way forward.

• When you return, if funds permit—seek the services of a professional coach who has travelled the same path you will be travelling. Where this is not feasible—look for peers with the same experience.

• Your whole family should be involved in shaping how you will navigate the tricky waters where no regular income will be coming. And this is the most difficult part as often this includes downgrading lifestyles to suit the new environment. This sometimes includes the most complex part of changing schools for your children. Changing from a private school to a boarding school will cause the biggest stress in the home. Returning from colleges abroad to local ones can trigger Blood Pressure and other diseases both for parents and affected young ones. One could be pressured to maintain lifestyle by using all savings and gratuities in order to manage the stress—but this hardly works.

• Venturing into business: If you already one foot in business, then it’s a bit better to adjust as you will have full-time focus. If you are starting a business from scratch then you need to be extremely humble—and its not easy. From c-suite to the streets very humiliating—but if you accept humility—beyond it lies your break through. If start a soap making business—make sure you know how soap is made. You should know all the formulas before hiring staff. Avoid the pressure to Start BIG in line with your previous high class status. If farming then start from a small scale and get your hands dirty. Many regret skipping the dirty hands phase—and payback is losses.

• Pay the School Fees: Many just plunge into business without engaging experts. Not bad to do so but there are school fees to be paid and it’s called experience. The streets will teach you the hard lessons packaged as losses. If going into fish farming—engage experts for a small fee. Or pay a small fee to those already in the business and learn the whole cycle.

• No fast returns for newbies: You are supposed to be earning a salary right? Then you invest looking to cover the salary gap right? Well all the investment can be wiped out as the rate of success in business has been documented as 20% over 5 years. The rate of success is 1 in every out of 5. Study the risks in areas you would like to venture in—but this should not deter you from giving it a shot.

• Avoid Ponzi Schemes and Partnerships: The pressure to quickly earn income and maintain previous lifestyle likely to lead you into more misery. Online forex trading could be sold to you as a fast returns business, Bitcoin too. If you intend to venture into it then take time to learn and master it. You could easily fall into the trap of partnerships with unscrupulous characters. It’s better to start slowly and learn on the road.

• Balancing Cashflows: We covered this in detail in our 2022 Business Opportunities for Zimbabweans Book. You will need to juggle businesses that bring daily cashflows, monthly cashflows, quarterly cashflows and long term cashflows.In summary—short run cashflow cycle, medium term cashflow cycle and long term cashflow cycles. This should determine your investment decisions and a very complex area.

• Make new acquaintances: Maintain solid relationships with ex colleagues as they could be some of your potential partners and clients. Be humble enough to reach out to them. In addition join business forums and actively participate—your new colleagues will teach you a lot about business and street science.

• The Good News Phase: Yes the new life will mentally drain you—losses inevitable but don’t give up. You will eventually hit the target after many misses. You will eventually graduate and forget about the trials and tribulations. Its a lone and difficult road but you will survive like others before you.