“Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.” — Brian Tracy
Zimbabwe has gone through some radical changes in the past two decades. We have had to cope with lack of foreign currency, power cuts, water shortages; things that we used to take for granted started to give us many headaches.
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After years of looking west, we began looking east. At the turn of the century, we had to learn farming, which we had all along left to some few white farmers and our grandmothers back in the rural areas.
Then there were price controls. Compounded with the shortage of paper money, the effect was devastating. As consumers, we spent hours queuing for worthless amounts of cash. Many became skilled in the art of holding places in five or six queues at different banks. Cellphones came in handy as some friend or relative could send an instant message tipping “you” were close to being served. The same messages were useful in directing you to where sugar had been delivered. Or salt. Or even bread.
Many businesses are still struggling to rebuild from the chaos of those days and many have since gone under.
Then inflation went hyper. When the local currency became worthless, we switched to fuel coupons, cows and donkeys, as it was illegal to deal in United States dollars or South African rands. Later, foreign exchange licensed shops and warehouse (Foliwars) came and foreign currency became the legal tender, first to selected enterprises and later to everyone. Most of us are still to come to terms with how we managed to survive all those hardships.
When multiple foreign currencies became the legal tender in Zimbabwe, few businesses had any significant amounts in cash to resuscitate their productive operations, which had become idle as foreign goods flooded the market. A few years into the new currency regime, cash was still a problem to both companies and individuals as the country had become a net importer of almost every product.
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It was said on the streets that cash from the illegal panning of diamonds in Manicaland Province was sustaining the economy until February 2009. As the cash ran out, business transactions dwindled, forcing down prices of most imported goods which had previously been marked up exorbitantly. As an example, a six-pack of imported beer was selling for $12 in June of 2008. Later, the price went down to a more realistic $5 or so.
Change happens in every economy. The economic powerhouses of Asia, then known as the Asian Tigers, underwent a crashing fall in the 1990s. In 2008, the affluent nations of Western Europe and America went through a painful squeeze after years of prosperity, as the subprime mortgage crises brought down leading global banks. In 2008 Citigroup and RBS Group were enormous, with combined assets of nearly $6 trillion, greater than the combined GDP of the world’s 150 smallest countries. However, their capital buffers were tiny. When they ran out of capital, the bail-out from governments ran to over $100 billion. The overall cost of the banking crisis is even greater—in the form of slower growth, higher debt and poorer employment prospects that may last decades in some countries.
As a business owner, you have to be aware of changes going on in your environment and be prepared to change direction at short notice. Regular strategic planning helps you to be prepared to act in response to changes in the economy, market, social or technological environment. It also helps you to be proactive, changing direction before others see what is coming.
Some companies tried to resist change, and they got left behind. This happened to the once unassailable Motorola when it was slow to respond to the new digital technology used by Nokia and others, and kept rolling out analogue phones.
Clearly, the key to organisational health is a firm’s willingness to examine the changing environment and to adopt appropriate new goals and behaviours. High-performance organisations continuously monitor the environment and use flexible strategic planning to maintain a viable fit with the evolving environment.
You are the leader of your business, the commander of your army; your responsibility is to take charge and lead your army to victory. No one is going to do that for you. You have to do it yourself, in whatever situation that may be prevailing.
On Friday December 19, I will be launching my new book for business leaders who want to grow their businesses in this unpredictable environment. Titled Business Survival & Growth Amidst Turbulence 2017 and Beyond, it is a must-read for all entrepreneurs. Details of the launch venue and how to get a copy are available at my blog shown below.
Remember, if you cannot change your environment, you have to change yourself and adapt to the environment in order to survive.
Phillip Chichoni is a business development consultant who works with SMEs and entrepreneurs. You may contact him by email, [email protected]. You can also visit http://smebusinesslink.wordpress.com
