Since the outbreak of pandemic COVID19, so many businesses have suffered. After being a couple of months at home and dipping into savings for regular expenses, alarm bells have started to ring in people’s mind. Now they are wondering how long they will continue to live like this. Savings are shrinking, and cash is not flowing in. It is a terrifying situation.
Whether you have an existing business or you are about to open a small business, the way of doing business will change. The company will become more digital. They will invest in digital platforms for marketing and promotion of their products.
They will use online tools such as Skype to have conversation and meeting with their clients as the lifting of lockdown does not mean that life comes back to the standard track. Everybody will have to follow the protocol of social distancing. Here is how the culture of your business will change post lockdown.
Investment in digital infrastructure
Since you cannot kill the virus, you will have to live with COVID19. Before the outbreak of the pandemic, sales executives, including fundraisers, used to visit door to door. Post lockdown it won’t be easy to continue this trend. People will less likely entertain such visitors due to the fear of COVID19.
Since you cannot grow your business without the promotion of your brand, you should choose digital platforms to connect with your audience. If you are starting a business, you need to have an entire set up for digital communication with your clients.
Customer engagement
One of the significant challenges you will face post lockdown is customer engagement. It is not possible to have an immediate spike in demand for your product. Most of the people would not have been aware of your business operations.
The first thing you need to do is to tell your customers that your business activities are resumed. You will prepare a formal email and send them a notification about your business hours. Try to give this notification on social media platforms and your website.
Financial planning
Finances are the most crucial part of business planning. Not only will you focus on how you will have cash coming in, but you will also have to consider your liabilities. You may have accrued interest on loans. First off, you should pay off your debts. Whether it is a business loan, loans without guarantor or business credit card bills, make sure that you settle all of your dues immediately.
Post lockdown your business will take some time to boost and therefore you will have to make some decisions to have enough money to keep your business running.
You may have to sell stocks, bonds and other investments to get some money and cut down salaries of your employees to boost the financial health of the company. You may also need to lay off your employees and hire freelancers.
Upskill your team
Since old methods of running your business no longer exist after lockdown, you must have a plan to hone the skills of your team. People must be given the training to handle technology. The entire business will go digitally, and hence each employee will have to prepare themselves for the current scenario.
One of the best examples to see to understand is teachers are providing online classes to students. Various institutes are conducting professional training courses online to avoid gathering of people.
Plan a strategy for future
Depending on the nature and type of your business, you will have to plan how you will pursue your business. Some industries are expected to change the way of doing business post lockdown. These businesses include fitness and coaching centres. Fitness centres are looking forward to providing online training to their members.
As the rule of social distancing is to be followed strictly, gym trainers will provide virtual classes. However, it does not mean that in-person workouts will vanish completely. Since fitness centres will provide face-to-face and virtual training, they can decide beforehand how they will implement it in the right way.
Even though your business fits the other industry, you will have to figure out ways how you can render services to your target audience in amid of COVID19. You will have to figure out more and more digital techniques to market your brand and deliver your products to your audience.
There is no denying that you will need to arrange funds as your business strategy will transform. You may not have enough funds to contribute to digital technology and upskill of your staff. In case of a shortage of funds, you can take out 100% guaranteed loans. This time it has become essential to fund new strategy of your business.
Now you have got to know how your small business will continue post lockdown. It will take some time to get on the track certainly.
