Business Post-COVID-19: Triage and Rediscovery

Preparing for the New Normal

It’s no secret that the pandemic will leave a lasting mark on the world. For many manufacturers and distributors, the battle is only halfway over, and post-COVID uncertainty won’t be lifted with stay-at-home orders. With so much change occurring rapidly on a global scale, demand has and will be shifted to a new normal.

What matters now is agility. Shifting priorities, meeting expectations, and mitigating supply and demand risks come with a higher level of urgency. As a value chain optimization firm, we know the challenges that await manufacturers and distributors when they return. Below are the three stages of post-COVID business recovery.

3 Stages for Post-COVID Business Operations Recovery

1. Triage

Throughout March and April, events changed and shifted rapidly. There was little time to plan and get in front of the challenges that arose. Now that time has passed and companies have ensured their people are safe, the time has come to focus on the other aspects of a business that will require attention for a successful post-COVID recovery.

2. Tenacity

With your house in order, the next stage will be evaluating customer needs and vendor business health. A rapid assessment to capture the quickly evolving, multi-threaded situation will be essential to understand the changing needs of your customers; segment and focus channels, customers, products, vendors, and offerings; and mitigate supplier risks in capability, timing, and price. As many companies are experiencing, demand has shifted that “good enough and available now” are more important than wide selection.

3. Preparation

The old normal is being replaced by an evolving new normal. Historical models of customer buying behaviors may now be drastically and permanently changed. Scenario planning and understanding your cost structure will be key in responding to new customer needs. This may also be a time to prepare to capture new business from competitors that were not prepared for the crisis, were unable to adapt to the post-crisis business climate, or had to let go of underperforming business segments.

How We Can Support Your Post-COVID Strategy

River Rock Advisors can partner with you to ensure your business is in a strong post-COVID operational position. For companies looking for strategic recovery support, our approach consists of working with you along three business lines:

Business Advisory
- Agile sales and operations planning
- Demand and supply planning
- Customer, product, and services segmentation
- Scenario planning

Business Analytics
- Cost to serve
- Inventory performance, including distribution network resizing

Digital Transformation
- Interim planning models
- Dashboarding
- Connectivity portals