A lot of small businesses worldwide are struggling to keep their operations afloat amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Although there’s no certainty about the future of our economy and the virus, there are certain steps you should consider taking to adapt your small business to our current new normal.
Consider Pivoting Your Business
For your small business to thrive in this new reality, think about how you can adapt or pivot your business so that you can continue serving your customers. Check out what other businesses in your industry are doing for some inspiration. Some ideas worth exploring include the following:
- Sell goods to consumers directly via an e-commerce store.
- Offer services virtually whenever possible, through phone, email, or video calls.
- Explore free shipping, new sales, and discounts to attract new customers.
- Offer new services or goods that are in demand right now, including hand sanitizer, facemasks, and alcohol.
Ensure Your Team’s Safety
Regardless of your business capacity, creating a safe workplace environment is crucial to your employees. Consider implementing these policies:
- Minimize the number of people working in the workplace
- Allow your team to work remotely whenever possible
- Decrease your physical store hours
- Educate and train your employees about proper sanitation and hygiene practices
- Maintain an adequate supply of face masks, gloves, as well as cleaning and hygiene products
- Develop a reasonable family and sick leave policy
Make sure to review which functions could be performed remotely so you can develop proper structures required for effective remote work.
Explore Backups for Your Financial Resources
You might be able to take advantage of various funding sources to help keep your laser hair removal business afloat. These include:
- Small Business Administration loans
- Lines of credit
- Business interruption insurance
- Grants and loans from city and state programs as well as private organizations
- Late payments from customers
Review Your Current Expenses
You should prepare for reduced revenue forecasts so that you can manage your assets and cash effectively. List down all your current expenses to determine what you could cut temporarily. For instance, if you still have scheduled orders for office supplies or other inventory, stop future purchases if you can.
You should likewise check all the services your regularly pay for, from advertising to cleaning, and determine where you could minimize your costs. For insurance and utilities, see if your providers offer reduced fees due to the pandemic.
Review All Your Leases and Contracts
During economic downturns, business should prioritize minimizing their financial liabilities whenever possible. This could include refinancing loans, renegotiating contracts, and deferring rent payments.
You should review all current leases and contracts to find out where you can save on non-essential expenses. For example, if you previously bought supplies that you can’t possibly use anymore due to Covid-19 restrictions, don’t hesitate to speak to the supplier to see if they do refunds.
Stay Connected with Your Customers
As your small business’s operations changes, whether you are now offering new services or products, changed hours, or close your doors temporarily, you should stay connected with your customers.
Now is the perfect time to get your business on social media (if you haven’t yet) so your customers can easily find you and tune in to your updates. Your social media pages are also great platforms to tell your customers all about your changes in services or products, revamped sanitation policies, and other things your business is doing to help stop Covid-19 from spreading.
Surviving the Covid-19 pandemic won’t be easy, but very possible. Try to weather this trying time and reduce the virus’ economic impact by following the tips suggested above and demonstrating true resilience.
