The pandemic has affected businesses around the world. Even as large corporations scaled-down their operations, small businesses bore the brunt of the situation. Most of these businesses sought extensions on payments and leveraged the Payroll Protection Program to stay afloat.
The pandemic caught everyone off-guard, but businesses can still continue operating if they consider options available to them. Here are some tips businesses can consider to weather the storm brought about by the pandemic.
Prioritize Health and Safety
The majority of coronavirus cases are mild or have no symptoms, but around 15 percent were severe cases that required oxygen. With this in mind, businesses should implement procedures to protect not only their customers but their employees as well.
Businesses should ensure their employees are aware of travel restrictions and important announcements by the government. If possible, they can implement a work-from-home policy. This work-from-home or telecommuting policy offers a lot of benefits for both the business and its employees. Aside from reducing overhead costs, it also results in an increase in productivity.
But if telecommuting isn’t possible due to the nature of the business, it should take steps in reducing the risk of transmission of the virus. These steps include wearing masks, social distancing, and the regular sanitation of the workplace.
Businesses should also implement procedures in case a staff member feels sick. Or if someone in the staff was exposed to a person diagnosed with the virus. Putting these measures in place is important to ensure everyone remains safe from the virus.
Enhance the Online Storefront
This would be the best time for businesses to go online. Since customers are starting to flock to online stores, businesses should follow suit. This means interacting with them over the internet. To do this, businesses should ensure their online storefront is up and running.
Businesses should enhance their website and make it user-friendly. A user-friendly website increases incoming traffic. It also encourages customers to purchase a product or service from the business. Businesses should also make the website mobile-friendly since most of the incoming consumer traffic comes from people using mobile devices.
Host Virtual Events to Stir up Interest
Since most businesses have gone online, it will take a lot of creativity for any single business to attract the attention of its target customers. One of the ways a business can stir up interest in its target market is by hosting virtual events. These events should be relevant to the target market to make it stand out in the crowd.
In these instances, the creativity of the business and its marketing team will be challenged. They should think of ways to make the event appealing to the audience. It should also make its target market notice what it’s offering to them. The event should be interactive and offers incentives to people attending it. Moreover, it should feature a clear call to action so the target market will feel connected with the business.
Prepare for the Return to Normal
With the imminent availability of the coronavirus vaccine, it’s time for businesses to start preparations for them to return to the normal way of living. While it may take some time, it’s important to stay ahead of the pack. So, businesses should start planning for it.
This means a business should start cleaning up its physical store. Aside from sanitizing the place, it may also want to get in touch with pest exterminators to deal with pests that may have sought refuge in the store.
Making sure the physical store is clean and ready shows customers that the business is ready to serve them once everything goes back to normal.
Businesses have suffered a lot from the pandemic, but implementing simple measures will allow them to stay afloat until everything goes back to normal.