Business Lessons from The Walking Dead

Hello and welcome to Business Lessons from The Walking Dead. The Walking Dead is set in a world where an unknown plague has gripped the planet, turning most people into zombies, with only a few people left alive. Surviving is a constant threat for those left alive in an ever changing environment. . You can catch up on my previous entries in the series here

In many ways the similarity to running a business is uncanny at the moment, many are fighting and scrapping to survive in a business environment that is changing fast and faster, while actually enjoying the ride may sometime seem like a pipe dream. This is a series of blogs to guide you through the trials and tribulations of running a business, and avoid becoming one of, what Vince Cable has dubbed, zombie companies

Infected had a great example on why you need to review your strategies regularly to make sure they are working.

The most gut wrenching scene in quite some time was watching Rick slaughtering the pigs in order to save the prison fence, in what was effectively the self inflicted murder of his own ambitions at recapturing some normality that could keep him sane. From the turn of the outbreak of flu, and the recent flock of walkers around the fence, it hadn't taken Rick long to evaluate his strategy and make a quick decision to change his course. His decision not only saved the fence, but may have saved them all from an epidemic.

There are many disastrous examples of businesses not evaluating their strategy, and continuing to bark down the wrong tree. Over the last 4 years we have seen a serious re-balancing of our economy away from the high street onto online e-commerce. It didn't take the most savvy company to spot this trend coming, but it still seemed to catch the likes of Woolworths off guard, and doubling down on their offline strategy did nothing but increase their drive to non-existence.

Not every strategy we try and implement will work, despite the best intentions. The important thing is that we deal with any problems with a strategy as and when we become aware of them, either making the necessary tweaks to help it flourish, or making the difficult decision to pull the plug before things get any worse.

This is why it is important that you get regular figures updating you on your businesses, and why online bookkeeping software can help you stay on top of your business, by avoiding any disasters. When you're working hard on something, it's hard to make an honest appraisal of it's performance, and that is why it is important that you have someone you can talk to about them, like your accountant, who can help you see the bigger picture. 

If you fancy a chat about your business, are planning a major project or just like the sound of having better control over your business, then drop us a line and we can arrange a chat to discuss your options.

Thanks for reading, I'm Thomas Szczepanski, Master Accountant