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A CEO PLAN FOR CORONAVIRUS:
ACTIONS TO TAKE NOW A
s the novel coronavirus outbreak has upended businesses around the world at alarming speed, one thing has become clear to executives grappling with the crisis: doing nothing is not an option. COVID-19 is unlike any previous crisis and taking traditional crisis-response approaches will not be enough. With our operations running smoothly and business running effectively amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we share the steps that CEOs need to take today to mitigate the effects of the outbreak.
CEOs need to plan for multiple quarters of lower revenue as the recovery may not be a quick bounce-back writes Tom De Waele, Managing Partner, ME, Bain & Company
The situation
All stakeholders including employees and customers are probably experiencing fear or panic. Hence, you need to appoint a senior, fully dedicated COVID-19 war room team focused on this all day, every day. As CEO, you must be out in front with a planned cascade of possible actions, probably more aggressive than your team can imagine right now. Customers will change some behaviours permanently, accelerating prior trends. Taking bold action now can set you up for success through the downturn and beyond.
The process of containment and slowing the spread of COVID-19 in each country will create major disruption, irrespective of the seriousness of the virus spread. This should not cause additional fear in a situation that is already frightening for everyone, rather, it is a simple reminder that during times of crisis, such as the financial crisis of 2008, the strong will get stronger and strength here will be define by clear SMARTSMB / April 2020
leadership, plans and actions. The high likelihood of a substantial revenue disruption will lead to a potential liquidity crisis for many businesses. This could mean that the recovery may not be a quick bounce-back. Accordingly, CEOs need to plan for multiple quarters of lower revenue.
Six urgent priorities Protect your employees and customers
Implement the best-known guidelines available for both employees and customers. This includes monitoring global health guidelines and other companies—and continue to fine tune. Don’t be afraid to overcommunicate with full transparency and assist epidemic-limiting initiatives in any way possible.
Stress test P&L and liquidity Outline macro scenarios by market, translate into revenue-decline and P&L scenarios. You should also build extreme downside scenarios as this has the potential to be a 100-year event. Therefore, an outline of the major oper-
