Speaking at the Lynx Purchasing Annual Conference 2025 in June, Matt Thompkins, Director of Business Development, spoke about the need for businesses and individuals to show resilience as tough trading conditions continue for hospitality. Here’s a summary of what Matt had to say.

Resilience sits at the very heart of long-term success in business, as well as in life. It isn’t about avoiding difficulty, but about learning how to navigate it, how to bounce back, and – when we are genuinely good at it – how to bounce forward.

Diversifying Risk

Resilience as a business strategy starts with diversification of risk. We’re often told “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” That’s not just a saying, it’s a critical survival strategy.

We build resilience by diversifying: across sectors, across suppliers, across customer bases, even across geographical locations. When one revenue stream takes a hit, others can keep us afloat. That’s the power of balance. Diversification isn’t just about growth, it’s about insurance. It’s about protecting our businesses from the unexpected, because the unexpected will come.

Resilience also informs how we work. Relying too heavily on a single supplier, a single customer, or even one team to carry the weight, creates fragility. So, we spread the risk and build backup plans.

We try to have multiple relationships within a business, so that if one contact leaves there are other people to speak with, and hopefully a warm introduction to the replacement.

Processes should also be resilient.  How many jobs or tasks in a business are done by one specific person? What happens if they are sick or worse still, leave the business?

Resilience, when baked into the structure of a business, doesn’t just help it survive. it sets it up to thrive, even when others are shrinking.

Personal Resilience – Showing Up When It’s Hard

Even the most diversified business can only go as far as its people can carry it. Business is tough. Rejection, setbacks, difficult decisions, long nights, uncertain outcomes, aren’t the exceptions, they’re the rule.

Resilience doesn’t mean pretending everything’s fine. It means acknowledging the stress but moving forward anyway. It means saying, “This is hard, but not impossible.” It means choosing not to shrink from discomfort, but to lean into it with curiosity and resolve.

Resilient people aren’t made during the easy times, but during times of heightened pressure. When the deal falls through, when the market turns, when you lose a customer through no fault of your own, instead of saying, “why me?” they say, “what now?”

This mindset is what turns business managers into leaders. It’s what allows people to pivot, not panic. It’s what allows them to keep going when everything in them wants to quit.

And most importantly—it’s what builds culture. When colleagues see you push through a rough period with transparency, humility, and grit, it’s inspiring, and the behaviour is infectious.

But resilience isn’t just about the things you do when the pressure is on, it’s also about the things you don’t do.

Patience under pressure is the hardest thing to master. When you are behind your target or budget, or you have an opportunity that you just can’t seem to get over the line, it’s all too easy to apply the pressure that you are feeling to the prospect, who doesn’t share your sense of urgency.

Being able to distance yourself from the pressure and take things at their natural pace rather than forcing things will bring more success in the long run.

Bringing the Two Together

So, what’s the link between strategic and personal resilience?

It’s this: when we build smart, diverse, flexible systems, we reduce the frequency of crises. And when we build strong, patient, grounded individuals, we respond better when crises come anyway.

You can have the best contingency plan in the world, but if your team is mentally checked out or burned out, it won’t matter. And you can have the most committed, passionate people—but if the business structure is brittle, they’ll burn themselves out trying to hold it together.

Resilience is a loop. Systems support people. People strengthen systems. Resilience is not a trait you’re born with, it’s a muscle. Like any muscle, it grows with use. Every time you get back up, every time you rethink a failed approach, or every time you show up on a hard day, you’re getting stronger.

We all have to ask:

• Where in our business are we exposed?
• Where can we add depth, diversity, or agility?
• How are we supporting ourselves and our people to stay strong when the pressure is on?

Resilience isn’t the fallback plan. It is the plan, the foundation, and the core strength of everything we build.