Key business issues to think about at the moment 22-02-2011

When developing strategy it makes sense to think about the underlying pressures and themes an enterprise will need to manage if its strategy is to be effective. That means, at least, thinking about political, economic, social, demographic, technological, and legal pressures.

For a long time, in New Zealand, politics here and overseas has been positive or benign to business at a generic strategy level – so it mattered if your enterprise had government customers but not so much otherwise.

That has changed. There has been plenty written and said about the more active self-interest by the US, reduced demand from China, Brexit, the changing role of oil, and geopolitical pressure from Russia.  And of course it is an election year in NZ.

All of that and much more means it worth giving politics a bit more attention when thinking about risks or opportunities.

Another thing that we haven’t had to manage for a long time is the availability of capital. 

For the last twenty years (other than in the thick of a crisis) money has been fairly easy to get if there was a reasonable story and security.  In fact the focus has largely been on negotiating the best interest rate for the deal.  That situation is changing with the big banks signalling that they are being more selective about who and what they fund. 

If you have loans maturing or initiatives that are going to require new loans make sure you give yourself plenty of time to organise the funds.

As always it is important to take the wins available through technology relentlessly.

If you would like help to think through this stuff please call me 0275 44 5657