It’s a hard time. Everything is at a standstill; markets are down, shops are closed and people are scared. As a small business, you may be one of the hardest hit from this pandemic. So what can you do during this uncertainty to make sure your business stays a float?
1. Invest in your digital presence
Nothing emphasizes the importance of a good digital presence than now during a lockdown. Your digital presence is driven by your digital strategy. In some industries, digital strategy is becoming the business strategy. A website is the foundation of a good digital strategy and we can never overstate its significance. It is the backbone of your online presence.
A good website helps you reach more people, increase sales opportunities and get more customers. Once you establish a good digital strategy, sales will happen around the clock, with minimal effort from your side.
Your website should:
Be clean, simple and easy to navigate
Have call to action buttons on every page
Be optimised for mobile devices
Have not too much, not too little information
Have testimonials and reviews to build credibility
Should have a good ecommerce platform for instant customer conversions
and most importantly, it should be reliable, accurate and up-to-date
You should never consider an investment on a website as a cost. A good digital presence will multiply your sales and expose you to more opportunities regardless of the environment or market conditions.
2. Revise your cost/pricing structures
This is a good time to take a look at your pricing structures. The global economy is headed towards a recession and how your business sustains depend on how well it can flex its costs to bring down the prices. You should list all the costs, mark the non-essentials and take action.
You can use a free survey tool and send out a survey to all your customers to find out their opinion on what is essential. If you are a cupcake baker, maybe that embossed ribbon around the box is not so essential. If you are a real-estate broker, maybe your customers don’t need a printed postcard of every house you sell!
You can also revise how you receive payments. This could be a good time to introduce payment plans if you are selling high value products or services.
3. Market your ethics and values
Crisis has hit and how you respond will be your true test of character. This is your chance to build the reputation of your small business without prompting altruistic behaviour. People prefer businesses that look after their employees, businesses where the owners make sacrifices without making employees redundant; businesses that have emergency funds to protect employees in moments like this. Crisis is a time that is important for businesses to show solidarity and work together to protect staff, local communities and customers, as well as keeping supply chains, manufacturing and logistics working.
4. Design a risk management strategy
This sudden crisis shed light on how unprepared businesses are to face a crisis. After 14 days of quarantine, many home businesses, small businesses and even big retailers are planning for 98% workforce cuts. It is of paramount importance that every business has a risk management strategy to deal with situations like this. You should set aside earnings for an emergency fund where your business can survive at least one quarter of a complete shutdown.
5. Reach out for help
Governments around the world are setting up initiatives to help businesses. You may qualify to receive funds from a stimulus package or obtain an emergency low interest or no interest loan. Work with your suppliers, banks and landlords to establish payment plans to survive these difficult times. Key to remember is, they won’t help unless you reach out and having an honest discussion with your stakeholders will often give you better power in negotiations.
Times are tough, but how and whether you survive will depend on your attitude. Important thing is to be calm, take one day at a time and use your time wisely to explore new opportunities to protect the core business.
Speak to us today to find out how we can help you protect your business.