It’s Malcolm Gallagher here in the BrexFit Bunker with my call to action piece. Recently I’ve been giving a lot of thought as to how you, on behalf of your business, can see through all the current political smoke. That smoke is not going to clear for some time but you can’t afford to wait until it does.

You need a strategy to be able to move from surviving to thriving. Coming up are 2 top tier actions to take.

So how to do it? There’s no quick and easy solution. It requires some insight thinking and scenario planning. In this post, I’m giving you my suggested starter actions and I’m going to focus on two top tier considerations you must take as leader of your business.

FIRST Top Tier CONSIDERATION – No Deal Outcome

First, let’s look at what you need to be considering. There are likely 3 basic outcomes and these are deal, no deal and remain. You’ll know about those three already. But at the time of writing this, I suggest the position is that “no deal” is not only possible but arguably far more likely than it appeared at the end of March which was our first EU leaving date.

With UK Government more fixated on its own internal troubles and leadership challenges, your need for sound business preparation and resilience planning has certainly become more acute.

A no-deal Brexit will inevitably mean that dreaded word “change” will happen – and it will happen quickly, almost overnight.

What preparation have you made or are making for no deal? Any preparation won’t be wasted effort because you may need that preparation if there’s another outcome such as an extension beyond October 31^st.

Some areas of preparation include the following:

GDPR and the movement of personal data between the EU and UK could be a key impact. In the event of a No Deal, you may need to change or adapt your processes regarding data transfer. There’s the likelihood of the need for a thing from the EU to the UK called an “adequacy decision” to be granted and that may take time to do.

Just to give you an indication of the seriousness of this. It may affect just the receipt within your UK business of an email from an EU citizen. Don’t assume it will be all plain sailing. Prepare!

Another area of concern is that, with a No Deal Brexit, there won’t then be a system of reciprocal recognition of professional qualifications between the UK and the EU. This means some professionals may not be able to deliver services and advice in the EU. Again, it will take time to put the right recognition in place. Just think about the impact this may have with the medical profession let alone lawyers and accountants!

One area I am already experiencing regarding a No Deal impact is the impact on those people from the EU who are living or working in the UK and will have to apply for indefinite leave to remain. That’s called ILR and is also known as settled status. It’s a major impact on sectors such as hospitality. For example, around 25% of all chefs in the UK are from the EU.

And then there are the unknown areas such as how with such EU citizens you will handle payroll issues such as tax and NI contributions.

There are many other issues that we know about here at BizVision within our BrexFit activity. You need to find them and to take action.

Think about these 3 steps to prepare yourself and your business.

1. Decide which of the necessary preparations you and your team can handle and which you need outside expert help.
2. Get reading. Scour documents such as the UK Government technical notices. A good idea is to start your own digital library of such information. We’ve done this for the last 2 years here at BizVision with our own BrexFit Library so we can help guide clients. It’s all been keyworded so we can be agile in our response.
3. Keep talking to your customers and your suppliers. Reassure them of your future and make certain they are also taking No Deal preparation action.

Now for the SECOND top tier consideration. Uncertainty will be the norm.

So far it has likely been hard for you to prepare for something when you are not sure what the outcome will be. However, and I speak from long experience and observation here, uncertainty will not go away. The world is and will continue to be, in a state of uncertainty. It’s not just EU but for example, issues such as Trade Wars, Cyber Security, Political Unrest, Emerging Nations, Climate Change amongst many others.

As we’ve been saying here on the BrexFit podcast and BrexFit TV for over a year you need to view uncertainty in a different light.

Most leaders are viewing uncertainty as a risk. Now is the time to start viewing it as an opportunity. Switch from survive thinking to thrive thinking.

Look for the areas of opportunity. Many see it as in what is called Industry 4.0 especially in the use of technology and the application of innovation.

I’ll cover more of this in a future Bunker posting and on our BrexFit TV channel. But for now, are you prepared to switch thinking and see uncertainty as an opportunity?

We’re not only covering more of preparation in BrexFit future podcasts and on BrexFit TV but importantly at our Brexit War Room Live events and our forthcoming Brexit Digital Go Kit.