The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic hit suddenly and left in its wake an economic Armageddon. Though the lockdowns helped save lives, they didn’t save businesses. Many small (and large) companies were shuttered completely. Your business may be surviving, but barely.
There’s good news and bad news. The U.S. economy quite obviously experienced a sharp contraction in the second quarter. The good news is: it has since seen some expansion in the third quarter. However, many economists suggest we are not out of the woods yet.
The economic outlook is uncertain, at best.
With possible future lockdowns coming if a second or third wave of coronavirus hits in the cooler months, businesses, especially smaller ones, need to be prepared.
Having a good strategy in place will help your business become one of the stalwart companies that survived coronavirus – and 2020.
So, let’s look at some possible strategies your business can take to not only survive 2020 but hopefully thrive in 2021. The short version: reduce costs!
If the economy were roaring along, it might be time to take big risks. But in 2020, it is a better bet for small businesses to focus on financial sustainability. Be realistic about the economic outlook. This is probably not the time to blow your cash reserves (if you even have any left) to engage in a major expansion – unless you are in the business of selling face masks. Now is probably the time to reduce costs and shore up your financial reserves to finish strong.
Consider what is essential and non-essential to your business. Can you do more online? Are there processes that can be streamlined if not outright eliminated? Can you find ways for your team to maximize their time?
Depending on your locality, your business may already be bending over backward to keep staff and customers safe from the COVID-19 coronavirus. The last thing you want is to be known as that company that had the coronavirus outbreak.
But have you considered your cybersecurity? With so many people now working remotely, businesses are often finding themselves uniquely vulnerable to phishing, hacking, and lost data. Video conferencing has its risks. Just one ransomware attack could completely hobble your business. One data breach could get you in serious hot water with customers.
The bottom line is if people don’t feel that your company is safe – literally or figuratively – you can’t come up with worse PR for yourself.
Thus, safety (both physical and digital) is one important key to staying strong and moving forward. And in the long run, good security will save you money. Bad security will lose it.
One of the biggest frustrations for businesses of all sizes, but especially small businesses, is finding good help. Now, your team may be scattered to work from home, and this may be throwing off the synergy you once had. You may also be in a worse position of needing to possibly let go of some employees.
Also, consider your customers. Are you able to give them the customer service they need despite COVID-19 restrictions? How has the pandemic affected your customers?
Take a good, honest look at your people resources. You may need to pare down here. You may need to make some tough decisions, but remember, your business needs to be able to survive first to help anyone at all.
One of the biggest challenges small businesses face is how to grow capacity when they don’t have the resources to hire more staff members. This is especially true when it comes to IT initiatives. The good news is that digitization and managed services can reduce your need for on-site staff while giving your company the productivity boost it needs.
At Edwards Business Systems, we are experts in providing managed solutions to our small business customers. These solutions include managed print services, to handle all your printing needs, and managed network services to enable digital workflows in the cloud – so your remote teams can connect and work together in harmony. These services can save you money, especially because you don’t need to hire an IT staff.
These are just a few of the solutions we offer to help small businesses survive in 2020 and have a better Q4, no matter what the economic outlook.
Edwards Business Systems offers customized technology solutions that can help save your small business money and reduce the need for additional personnel. For more information on how we can help, contact us today.