Creative Ways to Keep Your Business Safe (and Make $$) During the 'Rona
The Corona (COVID-19) pandemic is officially a reality. It seems like everything is stopping. For many, this might look scary, causing questions and uncertainty to arise.
This global crisis is having a multifaceted impact on all of us: Personally, professionally, and as a society.
As a business owner, times like this are extremely challenging. Many of us are facing things we didn’t expect, from lulls in business to total shutdowns. Know that you aren’t alone in this - there are 582 million entrepreneurs in the world facing the same challenges.
Being a business management consultant, I wanted to give you some practical advice to keep your business safe and moving forward during this crisis. You’ll find ways to lower the impacts on your business, regroup, innovate and even use this time to your advantage to make a few coins in the process.
Lowering the Impacts
Here are my recommendations for how to keep your work environment safe:
Stay informed - We are in a new situation that we haven't experienced before, there are many trusted resources you can follow, (I personally use CNN for live updates) and stay up to date with how the crisis evolves.
Prepare a plan and develop a strategy with your team - It is essential to make your team aware of everything this situation entails and how it is impacting your business. Don’t wait until your country goes to martial law to decide how you will move your business forward.
Develop a remote working policy - Thanks to the internet, we can decrease risks by letting team members stay at home. The best part is that there are already many teams that work fully remote and have developed necessary strategies and tools that help remote workflow seamlessly - I actually have a fully remote team. If you haven't worked remotely with your team before, this is a perfect moment to try it out. Even post-quarantine, using your team remotely will lower your overhead tremendously.
Practice transparency with your clients and customers - With everything temporarily shifting in your business, you may need to notify your customer base about the changes you’re going through and how it will affect your work. You should note what measures you've implemented, and how they will be protected as customers. This is an excellent time to showcase your values in action.
Time to Regroup
Many countries have already declared a state of emergency and others will soon follow.
This means we will have more time without meetings and social gatherings. Downtime can be used to finally address any tasks that we’ve been putting off this year:
Digital spring cleaning: This moment might be perfect for revamping your website and auditing your social media. Are you the person who is always so busy that you never get to attend to your online presence? I hear you! Now is the time to stop for a second and think about how you want to be perceived. Maybe it’s a chance to try out your new branding or a cool Instagram grid pattern - either way, get online and reinvent yourself.
Network, network, network! We should all be grateful that we have the technology to adapt our way of connecting through all the channels, especially on social media. We may be more isolated but we are also more connected than ever before. Revisit your goals and consider what type of people you need to connect with and FIND THEM! This is the time to plan collaborations and strategize with like-minded people.
Innovate and Make a Coin
Let’s talk about the fun stuff! Is it possible to make money during these times? YES! Digital products and services will sell like hotcakes! Here are some things you can do to make a little bread:
Compile a list of prospects to target and develop collateral to pursue them - Use this time to develop a list of businesses that you can contact post-virus for possible engagement. This could mean finding a new industry to tap into or working to create a viable list of prospects in your current target market. Either way, work on your pitching collateral (written pitch, video, decks, etc) and prepare for the next wave.
Create new content and digital products - People will consume even more digital content during this time. Give them access to knowledge you have gathered over time by way of ebooks, courses, and webinars. If you’ve been considering a digital product launch, the time is NOW!
This is just a short list of ways you can keep yourself, your clients and your business safe while still moving the needle on your business. If you or your business needs a bit of help developing strategies or working on a digital launch, book your free discovery call with me and my team at kendrascalemybusiness.com.
At Kendra, Scale My Business, we use non-traditional approaches to get extreme results, fast! We help businesses scale and continue to grow in revenue, clients served and brand visibility through streamlining processes, maximizing the efficiency of current employees and getting the right people in the right seats at the right table. Our team has specialties ranging from leadership, strategic management and talent acquisition to creative marketing and digital marketing strategies.