Get into a growth mindset

We are often told to pay off debt in times of uncertainty, to put ourselves in a more stable and secure position for the future.

But what if the time is actually right to leverage up and borrow more money? I’m not just talking about the housing market — although it’s clear that is the approach being taken by many property buyers now.

Interest rates are at record lows for business borrowing, too, and there are a number of facilities designed to get money to small businesses who need it, including the Governmentbacked small business cash flow loan scheme. If you need to invest, there might never have been a better time to do it.

The cost of that investment in your business is very low and the pay off could be great as the country starts to work through the post-Covid recovery phase.

But once a vaccine is rolled out and the world returns to something a little bit more like normal, recovery will start to take place in earnest.

To invest well, you’ll need a plan and some clear targets. Weigh up the potential opportunities against what they will deliver for your path to progress. It might be helpful to get some advice from a business mentor, coach or another trusted adviser to work out where the best returns for your business might be.

You might be able to invest in new machinery to make your team more productive, training to improve output, bigger premises or marketing to allow you to expand and reach more customers. A word used a lot recently is “pivot” — how will you pivot your business strategy ahead ?.

It can be scary to make bold moves during times of upheaval, when it’s not clear exactly what lies ahead. But often doing so can pay dividends down the track because you’re better positioned to take advantage of surges of growth. Get into a growth mindset and arm yourself for the challenges and opportunities ahead.