The pandemic hit businesses hard. Overnight, they were forced to adapt to a new world - new ways of working, new customer behaviours and living habits which saw everything we thought we knew about the ways we do business shaken up, pretty much overnight.

There was, inevitably, a drop in economic activity in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic – making this time even more challenging. SMEs were particularly likely to suffer, with Bank of England figures suggest that the average UK SME witnessed a 30-percentage point drop in turnover growth between April and December 2020.

Now, though, the country seems to be embarking on a brighter post-pandemic future. However, this does not mean we should simply turn our backs on what has gone before. To the contrary, we should be willing to look back on the pandemic years, understand what we learnt from the period and use it to inform our business strategy moving forwards.

As the country hopefully begins to put the distresses of the pandemic behind us, businesses will be hoping to look forward to a brighter, more certain future. But if the last two years have taught us anything, it’s reaffirmed the need for all of us, and particularly SMEs, to be able to demonstrate a high degree of business resilience, so that we can continue to operate effectively in times of great change and uncertainty.

Indeed, acting quickly and decisively in rapidly evolving scenarios is key in enabling businesses to minimise any disruptions, while also capitalising on new opportunities.

To enable this to happen, it is essential that management teams work collaboratively and efficiently as a unit. They must be upskilled in decision making processes to enable them to react quickly and autonomously in the event of a challenge to the business – and they should be proactive decision makers, staying on the front foot and being ahead of the curve to ensure their business’ continued success.

Of course, high-quality, detailed risk management processes and crisis planning help hugely with this. They provide the background and information required to make data-driven business decisions in times of crises, and to plan ahead for any future issues that may need to be addressed.

They do so by providing the management team with real-world insights and data that they can trust, removing the scope for guesswork and hunches and ensuring that leaders in the business can make decision that are rooted in facts, rather than hunches.

The best businesses are adept at bringing their teams along on the journey with them, utilising excellent internal communications and embracing employee participation to create an open can-do culture which embraces shared ideas and diversity, and aims to capitalise on the wider skills of the workforce.

Employees really are an organisations most valuable resource, and by ensuring the workforce truly trusts and buys into the leadership team, the business can maximise the chances of them staying on side during times of change or adversity.

Equally, though, the staff must bring with them an open mind and be adaptable – embracing change so that they are ready for any challenges that may emerge within the business.

This can be supported centrally by the reinforcement of a positive, change culture which helps employees to navigate transitions as the business moves along this journey.

And while internal communications with colleagues is important, it is also vital that businesses place a focus on stakeholder engagement. This enables leaders to maintain networks and identify any potential issues ahead of time, but it can also lead to further opportunities for new leads and business development.

By demonstrating some of these key businesses resilience techniques, SMEs can safeguard themselves against future adversity – ensuring that through both good times and bad, they have the adaptability to survive and thrive.