Combating Uncertainty in Business and Life : A framework

During periods of economic slowdown, like the one induced by the Covid19 pandemic, every version of business is affected, and mostly adversely. But in the middle of this financial mayhem, you do come across a few examples of businesses that are less affected than others, or a few who thrive.

“Cash is King”. The easy way to get around this appears to be cost cuts. Organizations seem to be doing this through a combination of job cuts, salary cuts, and reducing their real estate footprint. But then, this can only do so much, and for so long. What then?

When it comes to entrepreneurship, one cannot stress enough on the importance of building a great team.

Looking back through history, we can find many great stories of great teams. The Mac team at Apple. The Ford Taurus team in Detroit…and so many others. All of them had superstars working alongside one another transforming their industries.

In the book "The Startup Equation", by Steven Fisher and Ja-Nae’ Duane, the authors speak about 3 stages in the design of a new venture:

1. The foundation

2. Experience and

3. Growth

Personal ethics is a bit different from business ethics. Personal ethics is your own individual belief about morality; about what is right and wrong. This is usually distinguished from business ethics or legal ethics. Very often personal ethics clash with the needs of a business.

You would have come across the example of several businessmen in recent times who are spending time in jail due to alleged financial irregularities and other forms of business fraud. Some of these may have been very reputed businessmen in their time, with a very good reputation. All of a sudden, the reputation means nothing in the eyes of the public, as they are caught and put behind bars. Such businessmen may be accused of doing something wrong in business, but at home, he or she may be the nicest guy who will never hurt a fly. Probably even very religious.

Most businessmen are not indifferent to ethics in their private lives. But when they are in office, they cease to be private citizens; they become guided by a somewhat different set of ethical standards. Personal ethics and business ethics are often not in harmony.

We live in uncertain times. However innovative your product or service may be, it may not be easy to combat something like a global lockdown on account of a pandemic, unless it contributes to 'essential services' during such times. Usually, product companies or highly product-focused companies face the bigger of problems in such times.

Academicians speak about business model innovation as a way around. However, there is no one secret sauce that will work as a solution for everyone. One size does not fit all. In light of this, it is pertinent to examine platform-based business models that have worked very well for some companies. Some of the most valuable companies in the world today like Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft-derive much of their worth from their Multi-Sided-Platforms (MSPs), which facilitate interactions or transactions between parties.