If the Corona crisis has illuminated anything this year, its how we need to do things differently if we want to survive. People and companies need to innovate, originate and create – a new way of working? Inspired Design has some innovative ideas for those navigating the new normal.

All around us are ‘for sale’ signs, for rent and retrenched notices pop up. So how can we navigate this economic crisis and come out the other side still sailing? Looking for ways to save money and cut costs is a great place to start.

Subletting to a new smaller tenant can be a great way of sharing the costs. The new tenant would pay for their usage of the building. Smaller businesses cannot afford to start off in an independent office, so you could easily find a partner to share the overhead loads with your business. This partnership can be mutually beneficial if the correct partners are selected to move into your building. For example, most of the inner-city banks have changed their office blocks into multi-use buildings by subletting to various food, postal and retail tenants. Finally, when your lease has ended, you could walk away altogether.

You could consider downsizing your space as this crisis has proved, we do not need to have all our staff in the office all of the time. Look into how much space you can surrender until your lease is up and how much you could save by negotiating the end of your lease and moving into a new smaller office. Downsizing could be the way to dramatically reduce your overhead costs, without losing your valued staff. Consider meeting your landlord to negotiate the rates of your lease. Your landlord does not want to lose his tenants. Renegotiating your lease could be a sensible way to reduce costs on both ends.

Reassess your parking needs. With most of your staff working remotely, the amount of parking required can also reduce your monthly costs significantly. Consider putting unused furniture and equipment up for auction to bolster your cash flow. Many of your staff may purchase a desk and chair for a home office or small start-up companies who are always looking for cost-effective ways of setting up their own offices. Lastly, look for places where costs can be conserved, for example, electricity and water usage, heating, and air conditioning. Consider closing off parts of the building and restrict your staff to one section.

Your companies innovation, imagination and creativity will be paramount in your survival.

People can also look at how to save and reduce costs in their own homes and side businesses. The attitude of conserving and being conscientious will be infectious as all of us, practice this way of life.

One thing we don’t want to do is go back to our old way of life. We have been reading the news, forcing us to face reality. 2020 has brought to light the precarious situation we are in because of this way of life. Many of us know that we live in a day and age of the ‘throw-away’. This lifestyle is evident in the way we have inclined to throw things away instead of fixing them.

This area is somewhere we can save by learning to upcycle, repair, and reuse. An innovative company called Refunked started after the owner was retrenched but now is creating amazing upcycled furniture and design elements using old unwanted items and selling them online. Refunked is doing extremely well and leading this recycling trend. Yotam Ottolenghi said it so well when he said one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Go on – get listing!

One way in which we can save money is by buying no-name brands at shops and investigating pricing. One shop will advertise something special, but in comparison to other shops’ everyday prices, it is already cheaper. The lack of advertising on your box will undoubtedly save you cash.

Another way of saving cash could be to share subscription fees such as DSTV, who allow a certain number of users on one subscription. The same goes for Netflix, Showmax, and Spotify. Every little bit will go a long way if families start sharing. Look at revisiting your insurances and policies. Companies are scrambling for business now and will offer special deals and rates for new or existing clients. The key is to reduce your fees but not your benefits. Lastly, look at how you can reduce your debt and banking fees. Paying in R50 every month will go a long way to reducing the commissions we are all paying.

2020’s lockdown has forced us to be innovative and creative and we can see great examples of this in Cape Town. People have begun opening their homes to those needing a co-working space. These creatives offer a room as an office and a dining room as a shared meeting room space while including wifi, bathroom and beverages included in a monthly rental. It is a brilliant idea as not many people have the space to create an office in their home.

Another cost-saving tip is that Sars is giving full-time employees the option to claim home-office expenses during the lockdown period on their tax returns provided you work at home for at least 6 months of the year. If you would like more info, please follow this link. Sars – how to claim …

The amount of unused office space, blocks, and complexes that are opening up can be daunting. Owners, landlords, and property developers need to look at how they can change their properties into multi-use spaces.

The building industry has seen a change in architecture in the last few years from a single purpose building such as an office block to a multi-purpose office block that incorporates housing, shops, and restaurants. This kind of change is something that we must embrace in the future to survive. Homeowners can easily convert or add buildings to their properties, which can be leased to tenants, bringing in a helpful income.

Office buildings can convert their spaces into mid-level cost housing, hotels, or guest houses as it is environmentally friendly and can save time and money on tedious site approvals and permits. The surplus parking can be repurposed into a landscape into leisure areas for the new guests to ensure massive cost savings. Amenities such as aircon and generators are already in place. Other ideas such as converting the space into schools, shopping complexes, interesting restaurant venues, function halls or even hydroponic indoor farms are excellent avenues for investigation and research.

Change the only constant in our lives today is that there will be a change. The only question is – how are you going to handle the storm and will you survive?