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COVID-19 - Catching Your Breath and Building Company Value

Protect and build your company value and your net worth even during a crisis

At a very high level, we should think about our company's operating in one of 3 phases. There is a Normal phase, a Crisis phase and a Catch Your Breath Phase. 

The Crisis phase is when you feel your business is in an out-of-control free fall, you're faced with more uncertainty and unknowns and surviving is the focus.

The Catch Your Breath phase is what I call the period following the free fall and although it's still a time filled with much uncertainty and a fuzzy forward looking crystal ball, it's a time where you feel the free fall has been stemmed even if just for a brief period of time.

Then there is the Normal phase, or in the case of COVID-19 it will be a time of a New Normal for most businesses. This is a time when stability is returning and you feel as a company leader that you have returning certainties for your company and industry.

For many business owners now in the latter part of April, 2020, most are now in the Catch Your Breath phase of the business cycle. Now we don't know if this is simply an eye of a bad storm and more free fall will start again or whether we've seen the economic worst the pandemic will create and we will start to move toward better times but at an unknown pace. Whichever it is in your mind, being in this phase is an opportunity to step back and assess what you just came out of and what it could mean to your company worth going forward. Here are a few recomendations to be taking during this Catch Your Breath phase:

- Learn from your customer purchase data over the past 60 days. Analyze your customer data specific to the last 30 and 60 days because what you knew about your business at year end 2019 may be very different now. Look for any new customer buying trends by product/service type and look to see if your customers are buying a different mix of your products or services. This short term change in their buying behavior needs to be understood in terms of whether it will have longer term implications for your business.

- Revisit your company proposal/quoting strategy. Is the strategy you used prior to COVID-19 hitting still effective now? Perhaps your customer proposals focused on delivery prior to COVID-19 and now your customers care more about about price and cost savings. Or perhaps your company proposals focused on you being the low cost supplier and now customers are more concerned about getting the products than they are the cost.

- Revisit your lost proposals since earlier this year. Don't assume the company that won the award is still able to fufill on the contract given how COVID-19 has hit them. Reach out and see if you can re-engage on work that you thought you had lost.

- Start asking new questions of your partners, suppliers and customers. Now is the time to make sure you're getting a broad view of the market and your industry and what changes might be temporary and which may become permanent. Some companies have stale dialog with their outside partners and customers so they don't learn any new insights. Rethink the questions you're asking of suppliers and customers to see what new insights you can gain during this uncertain time.

If you're in the Crisis phase as a business, then there are survival related steps you should be taking to protect the value or worth of your business. But if you are like many business owners in late April, you may not like where you are year to date but you at least feel like you're catching your breath. Use this time to think about steps to be taking to not just protect the value and worth of your company but to see opportunites to build it so one day you too can be euphoric with the exit valuation you receive.

Use Greenpoint Testing to Achieve Your Desired Exit Valuation

It only takes 106 questions, scanning 10 essential business functions, to stress test your readiness for a successful exit.

However, these questions require thoughtful commitment to achieve your desired exit valuation.

During this up to hour-long online testing, you'll see questions such as the following.

Sample Question 02

After internalizing each question, select among three answer options – Agree, Unsure and Don’t Agree – choosing the answer which best describes you and your business.

Then, complete the Greenpoint questionnaire to unlock your personalized report, which will reveal any gaps in your planning, pointing to the action steps needed to maximize your desired exit valuation.

Format: Digital

Delivery method: Email

Report included: Your Greenpoint results

Stethoscope Frees You to Work On Your Business, Beyond In It

120 questions, scanning 10 essential business functions, free you to work ON your business, rather than solely IN your business.

With each question requiring thoughtful commitment to identify opportunities to further your success.

During this up to hour-long digital Q&A, you'll see questions such as the following:

Sample Question 02

After internalizing each question, select among three answer options – Agree, Unsure and Don’t Agree – choosing the answer which best describes you and your business.

Complete the Stethoscope questionnaire to unlock your personalized report, which will expose gaps [if any] in your planning, and tips for future growth, resulting in action steps needed to maximize your thinking as a business leader.

Format: Digital

Delivery method: Email

Report included: Your Stethoscope results

Be Ready for The Probe of Due Diligence

109 questions, scanning 10 essential due diligence disciplines, to prepare for a roadblock free Probe of your business in anticipation of sale.

And to potentially increase the value of your business by your professional transparency.

With each question requiring thoughtful commitment to identify opportunities to further your success.

During this up to hour-long digital Q&A, you'll see questions such as the following:

Sample Question 02

After internalizing each question, select among three answer options – Agree, Unsure and Don’t Agree – choosing the answer which best describes you and your business.

Complete the Probe Diagnostic Tool questionnaire to unlock your personalized report, which will expose gaps [if any] in your planning for a due diligence Probe, resulting in action steps needed to maximize your readiness when diligence is due.

Format: Digital

Delivery method: Email

Report included: Your Probe results