From talking to many business owners in addition to watching the news cycle, we are very aware that many businesses are struggling due to the current economic climate caused by the Coronavirus. Let’s be honest: it’s a very tough time for a lot of businesses out there.
How we are going to come through the other side of this is going to be the true testament to the strength of a business – especially many of the small businesses that are struggling to make ends meet.
What I don’t want to do here is to focus on the negative. We all know that there are many unsavory elements here, and we cannot control some of the things that are happening around us.
The one thing that we can do, is to take the extra time that this has afforded us and reinvest into our current state of affairs and funding into our futures.
I call this the Refocusing Revolution.
In order to take part in this, you need to understand where you are and then decide where you are going in a few key areas:
Customers
How are your current customers and clients faring with their OWN businesses and personal lives? Have you asked them? Have you reached out to them? Have you tried to support them?
Or have you sent numerous updates as to how YOUR company is holding up?
Think about it. Everyone is vulnerable right now, and the people that you need to keep close to you are the ones that are keeping you afloat.
Contact them, send them a personalized message, give them an extra service or freebie – something to show that you are supporting them. For example, we have been offering our database of business prospects and clients free consulting services to how they can pivot their sales and marketing efforts to keep themselves afloat.
Now look to the future. How is your target market changing? In six months, will you be marketing and selling to the same people and businesses – or will it look different? You need to be on the cutting edge of what is going on in the news cycle so that you can make the right assumptions and prepare your marketing and sales strategy accordingly.
Employees
Whether you were one of the businesses forced to let go or furlough your employees or a business that has kept everyone on, it is important to continue to invest in your company culture. Whether it is by providing bonuses (if you can), additional training, or even just good old moral support – be there for your workforce.
For example, if you did monthly meetings – keep them going on Zoom. If you had a weekly happy hour, do it remotely. You regularly did group training? Don’t stop. Your employees are the ones that are going to help you, and you are going to need to lean on one another as times progress.
Now let’s look to the future. Do you have a “back to normal” plan of action? While I know that normal is going to be a little “abnormal” for the interim, you need to make sure that you have your hiring options in place. Perhaps the employees you had to lay off will find new jobs. What do you do then?
Have job descriptions and a hiring plan in place, so that you can hit the ground running when things switch back on. There will be a flood in the marketplace at that time – so it will be useful to be organized and strike early.
Finances
Have you applied for all of the subsidies, grants, and loans offered by the government? Do you know how to stay on top of those? You need to learn quickly if you do not. This is the first place to protect your interests, but also how has your money changed, and how has your forecast changed? Updating based on a worst-case scenario will help you budget effectively as there are so many outliers at this time.
The future look on finances needs to be more focused on what you will need to do to supercharge your business back to the same level as before this pandemic hit. Look at your first quarter 2020 numbers (or maybe an average of 4th quarter 2019 and 1st quarter 2020) to get a feel for what you need. You can always operate at a lower percentage – but knowing the numbers will help you make smarter assumptions and decisions.
Revolutionize Your Business
Remember all of those great ideas that you have been shoving into folders marked “future ideas” and the like? It is time to dust those off and plug yourself into them. As you probably have some extra time available, lean into streamlining your business, cutting financial corners on unnecessary subscriptions, finding new tools to market and sell your business through automation, website redesigns, starting that blog, and more.
Now is the time to propel your business to the next level. Looking at the main factors above will help you get on your way. Take this time to reinvest in what is important, and supercharge your own sweat equity by building a realistic and solid business model for post-pandemic activity.
As I mentioned above, we’re offering a free one-hour consultation with no obligations. We just want to help businesses (whether they sell goods or services) to successfully refocus their marketing and sales strategies in a way that best allows them to regain momentum and remain successful. Have any questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out to my team at The Go! Agency.
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