It's a tough and tumultuous time to be a business owner right now. So, you fear COVID-19 will crush your business? Don’t give up yet. It’s a global pandemic and that means everyone is experiencing the same problems. People’s buying power is at an all-time low and getting loans seems impossible.
Amid all the problems in the world, now is the time to remain calm and think of how to save your business. In fact, you want to do more than survive these trying times. You want to thrive and triumph akin to Amazon and other retail giants.
With that in mind, here are a few tips to help your business succeed in the new normal.
Understand The Positives
Unlike most disasters, nearly everyone knows COVID-19. They know the virus’ impact on families, businesses, healthcare workers, everyone. As a result, people are acting differently than they should.
Some landlords are waiving their tenants’ rents or advising them to pay at later dates. On the flip side, suppliers are willing to wait longer for payments while banks are lowering interest rates. Then there are customers becoming more tolerant to longer shipping times.
In other words, your business hasn’t collapsed yet. And depending on how you act, it will thrive smoothly until the pandemic is over. That said, the way to act is to use the positives we mentioned above to your advantage.
Check For Business Deals
As mentioned, COVID-19 is affecting all businesses. To thrive, companies are giving out all sorts of deals to their partners. Google, for example, rolled out an $800 million advertising offer for online businesses around the world in April.
Back then, the who’s who of Silicon Valley were donating millions of dollars to charities, hospitals, governments and Non-profit organizations. Virgin Atlantic donated $250m whereas Facebook chipped in with a $120m donation to charities.
Of course, not everyone qualifies for donations from Google, Facebook and Netflix. But if you talk with your suppliers and business partners, you can work things out. You might not earn millions from bargains. But you can get enough money to get your business going.
Create A Survival Plan
They say desperate times call for desperate measures. So, create a fool-proof plan of how to survive COVID-19. Consider involving your employees in the process. They might have some innovative ideas worth listening to.
Alternatively, create the plan alone and ask your employees for feedback once you’re done. Then modify it based on the information you receive. For the uninitiated, your business survival plan should include some of these features:
• Strategy
• Priorities
• Restructured Budget
• Projected income
• Estimated cash flow
Crucially, make your changes as fast as possible. You might want to change things slowly for everyone to adjust. But this is not the time for trimming. It’s a time for an overhaul of your business.
Everything you do right now should be for the best of your business. Maybe you’re thinking of laying off some employees. Or you want eliminate some services but you feel hesitant to change everything all at once. Time is ticking. Decide quickly.
Grants And Loans
If money is what you need to survive as a business, taking a loan or asking for a grant is an excellent idea. You can apply for a government stimulus. Or you can check for loans from banks and community organizations.
In the US, most small businesses have been struggling to qualify for government stimulus packages. However, they have no problems getting loans from banks and other sources.
Grants offer a better deal, though. But similar to stimulus packages, your business must be interesting enough to be considered. By interesting, you must be involved in social causes or inventive.
If you choose loans, select those with the friendliest terms. Zero-interest loans from friends are an excellent start. But loans from banks with an extended repayment time aren’t bad either. Once you secure the loan, next is to invest it in ways that will earn your business profits as quickly as possible.
Increase Cash Flow
How do you increase cash flow when you’re making losses? Offer a new service, increase your prices or venture into new products. Let’s say you own a car rental business and people aren’t hiring cars because of lockdowns.
You can venture into the nest best thing: car repairs. Sure, people aren’t traveling as much as they did pre-COVID-19. But they certainly are driving around and that means there’s a demand for car repair services.
On the flip side, you can restructure your business to offer trendy products. Let’s say you own a website that sells T-shirts online but demand is low. You can switch things up to sell groceries, toiletries and sanitation products.
Don’t worry that you’re making too many changes for your business. It’s a matter of survival. And only the most flexible businesses can survive.
Reduce Costs
Although you want to increase cashflow for your business, you should keep costs to a minimum. You probably know why—most companies get into debt immediately expenses increase by 10% or 20%.
There are many ways to cut losses for your business. And now is the time to utilize these tactics.
If you run monthly adverts to get ahead of your competition, now is the time to trim that budget. If you have more employees than you need, it’s time to retrench them. After that, go through your products to determine what you can skip to lower operating costs.
Be Communicative
Hundreds of businesses collapse every year due to miscommunications with departments, customers or suppliers. If you want to survive COVID-19, learn how to communicate. For example, tell your employees about your new survival plans.
Ask for their input as we mentioned and make changes together. Additionally, reassure them that everything is in control. Do the same to your customers and partners. You don’t have to address everyone personally.
The customer service department exists for a reason. Guide them on how to interact with customers, suppliers, distributors and other employees. The bottom line is for everyone to understand the roles they should play help your business thrive.