To be able to pivot your portfolio of economic development activities and funding streams once a market or economic crisis unfolds – you need to be forewarned of the changes taking place, or at least keep pace with them once they are underway.

To keep ahead of economic trends and to be ready for change, the best economic development organisations:

𝟭) 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲. If you can’t afford to run this though your organisation, this is a function which lends itself well to collaboration – create and intelligence unit that is heavily biased towards applied economics and being able to explain what is happening in the economy.

𝟮) 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 so much as they lag behind current event by quite a stretch. Look at leading indicators (PMIs, payrolls, vacancies, business confidence surveys). During crises, things change fast.

𝟯) 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀. Stock markets represent investor sentiment on a daily basis. You need to dig into company and industry news and statistics.

𝟰) 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀. Some sectors and businesses contract; others keep going or thrive. You need to be able to help both sets. People and businesses still need products, goods and services. Keep them flowing.

𝟱) 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲. Financial advice to businesses helps them manage better through the crisis.

𝟲) 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀. The 2022 GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) survey for the UK found that the market uncertainty caused by macroeconomic policy mistakes of the UK government in 2022 had compounded the challenging economic environment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and Ukraine War visibly reduced reduced interest in starting a business.

𝟳) 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Sometimes the best decision for a business to make during times of change is to transform their productivity or use of technology.