The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has really challenged small businesses, what with fluctuating lockdowns. The economics for a small business owner can be daunting. How can you make a profit if another COVID-19 lockdown might be just around the corner?
For local restaurants, the quick and rapid adjustments to COVID-19 include offering delivery or take-out and setting up outdoor seating if possible. For retail small business shops, adjustments can be even harder. A small business deemed unessential may not be able to open at all for a while. How can you adjust or even survive if COVID-19 lockdowns continue?
While we all hope that the COVID-19 pandemic goes away soon and life can return to normal, we just can’t plan on that. While the coronavirus vaccines are promising, they have yet to be fully implemented and we just don’t know yet whether another strain of coronavirus could require more lockdowns in the near future. Thus, it’s best to expect the worst and hope for the best when it comes to small business planning. Here are some tips:
Creativity and flexibility are required as businesses move ahead. To stay solvent during a COVID-19 lockdown, small businesses need to be smart with their economics. Creativity and flexibility need to be baked into the way you do business.
Obviously, one of the most important actions to take when facing another COVID-19 lockdown is to contain costs. This can be done through reducing overhead and perhaps getting rid of excess office space as employees work from home more.
But don’t let the drudgery of cost reducing keep you from innovation or new ideas. Creativity can come in many forms. It might just save your business or give you a whole new avenue of revenue to explore.
For example, some small businesses that were unable to sell in an indoor mall during a coronavirus lockdown set up outdoor kiosks in parking areas, where the customer could come and drive up for a product. You might be able to setup a pop-up shop outdoors to enable people to browse your wares while getting fresh air. These types of creative solutions can not only help you make money, but could end up being revolutionary.
Even before coronavirus, food trucks, for example, went from being a low-grade chow option to a place where aspiring chefs could cheaply build up a loyal following before opening up seated restaurants.
The smart use of technology can not only help to reduce small business costs, which is smart from the economics side of things, but can potentially help generate more revenue. For some businesses that have products to sell, this may mean finally getting e-commerce set up to sell goods online instead of just in a retail brick and mortar store.
Technology services can be one way to reduce costs while enhancing small business economics performance. Pretty much all small businesses these days need some form of IT implementation and support. The problem is, hiring and paying for a full-time IT staff can be out of reach even in stable, good economic times.
A managed IT services solution can solve this problem by offering a team of IT experts through a vendor that handle your IT needs and strategy. This eliminates the need to put another staff person on payroll with all its extra costs and hassles. The managed IT services team can be available around the clock to handle daily IT needs as well as technology emergencies. And with the right cybersecurity solution in place, those emergencies should be fewer and far between.
As always, don’t just jump ahead blindly. Examine your business analytics and data to determine the path forward. Let’s say you own a local retail yarn shop. You had relied on a local community of knitters to come into your store to buy luxury yarns for sale. Part of the appeal was for the customer to touch and feel the soft, warm yarn, inspiring them to buy. Could you start up an online shop to make up for lost business during a coronavirus lockdown? Sure, but you need to do a full analysis of your online competition. Look at the key players in the market and determine your marketing strategy from there.
Need help navigating COVID-19 lockdowns? Edwards Business Systems helps companies and organizations with smart workflow automation, which reduces costs and overhead. We also offer managed IT services. Contact us today for a quote.