Every company has been going through big changes in the last six months. But that’s not to say your business is guaranteed to survive now that you’ve adapted. For many, it may only be a matter of time before everything catches up. While many businesses are weathering the storm, there’s a lot of lessons to be learned as a result of this pandemic. And while running any business is risky, if you are a small company, what do you need to know in order to survive right now?
Provide the Basics
This is as important for employees as it is your business. The fewer key components your employees rely on, whether this is desktop support or ergonomic furniture, you may see the negative impacts in terms of efficiency. Providing the basics doesn’t just help your employees to feel that the company is weathering the storms effectively, but it’s a comfort blanket of sorts. When any business undergoes massive changes, employees can feel the ground beneath their feet moving. This will result in a poor working culture. And when people feel anxious they may either try to jump ship or won’t work as well. But providing a baseline of security, even if it’s not visibly there, will help everyone, including yourself.
Securing Access to Finances
This is one of the main challenges for any small business. When you consider overhead costs like utilities and rent, there is very little liquidity available to the owners. It’s a good idea to aim for immediate liquidity. When companies are feeling particularly vulnerable, there are financial services available. But once you discover what you are entitled to, you still need to find ways to access this. And while there are relief plans available and can give businesses breathing room, they have to qualify through a certain set of criteria.
Improving Relationships and Engagement
Any business needs to focus on keeping the cultural aspects intact. But it’s important to consider your relationships with clients and other businesses, so consider partnering with other entrepreneurs to engage with policymakers. While this is something that may take a long time to come round, if companies in specific industries work to engage with policymakers, this can help provide relief, especially during this difficult time.
Understanding the Consumer
Many of your previous customers are likely to buy from you again. It’s important that if you are still struggling, you engage with older customers. The common misconception previous customers won’t buy from you again is harmful, especially during this time. This is why you need to go back and focus on rejigging your marketing campaign to engage with former customers. By diversifying your services to appeal to them and remember why customers bought from you in the first place, now is the opportunity to go back to the drawing board and understand the consumer that bought from you in the first place.
Any small business can struggle at the best of times and right now it’s not just about cutting corners or streamlining but it’s about remembering how to keep everything intact. It can take time, but it is achievable.