Krysztof Kulinski on how to find chances in crisis

Having run a business since the 80s, I have faced many crises in my professional life – some were global, some local, there were sector downturns as well as financial turbulences. I see all of these as parts of a natural business cycle and keep my focus to benefit from my past experiences and the lessons learnt. 

The common truth is that one must always strive to survive as only overcoming the crisis will make them more resistant to competition activities. 

Chances in crisis

Each time you survive the crisis you will rapidly undo the losses. Each time you dive into a crisis, you have an opportunity to jump out of the box, uncover new possibilities and learn fast. A crisis is always a chance to change and improve as it forces you to start unconventional thinking and overmaster the paradigms. It applies not only to new products, technologies, target groups but also to implementing new operating models and opening to new business collaborations. 

How about benefitting from the partnership with Spyrosoft? Let us cooperate closely, think together about how to mitigate your risks and continue with your priorities. We are open to overcoming the crisis by establishing new cooperation models and introducing non-standard business solutions. 

Diversification

I always say that the most important thing in crisis times is cash flow. The second one, which should follow the first, is diversification.  

Diversification can be executed in various manners. Take into consideration the scenario that you do not need to abandon new projects and planned investments, as you can always support your maintenance activities by collaborating with an external partner and save own resources for further development. New products will be your key differentiator when we are all back to normality. Another option is to seek cost optimisation with your current external partner to be able to continue your innovation’s development. 

In 2009, I had a chance to offer such a solution to one of the Tier-1 automotive providers. Having extensive domain knowledge, we took full responsibility for developing a requested component with no additional effort on the client’s side. We delivered a ready-to-use solution, simply adding value to the client’s business landscape. 

Why not cooperate with an experienced partner that combines advanced technological knowledge and domain expertise?  

European partners

Speaking of external partners, I see a significant need to rely on our European community. The pandemic shows how easily we can get globally separated and how important is to stay independent within our own continent. It’s worth investing in European technical development while staying independent from Asia and the USA, to secure our businesses for the future. A key issue here is the business continuity provided by a stable workforce.  

This, in such times that we’ve entered right now, can be ensured only by law and administrative regulations, secured on the UE level for all its members. As searching for external assistance is all about trust and security, think about choosing a partner who can guarantee a stable continuity of your core projects.  

It is worth paying attention to those who share the same values, working standards and business culture as you do. Typically, this refers to close distance countries that can be easily reached by one flight. And again, we are back to the European community….  

Domain knowledge

How to organise such cooperation? Simply think about whom you would like to entrust with your business activities. Sharing responsibility is the keyword here. Having an experienced partner who knows and understands your business domain could be a great benefit. Advanced working standards – quality management systems, data security certification, standardised working methods and processes – are even greater ones. 

The best lesson we all have learnt is having remote working as a standard. Suddenly, when forced to organise all operations remotely, we managed to break our existing routines. Today, we know that remote work, in many cases, can be more effective than the standard working models. Nearshore can be easily replaced by offshore, can’t it? 

Spyrosoft shares the same domain knowledge as you do. Our teams are eager to take over the responsibility for your new projects. From our development centres, we are experts in remote working with our clients. Our processes, quality assurance and data security are proven through ISO9001 and ISO27001 standards. Benefit from it.