Adapting your business is just good business.
Tips to Adapt Your Small Business During the Pandemic
As COVID-19 continues to impact the way businesses operate and consumers shop, many small businesses may struggle to stay afloat, let alone thrive. Below are some of the simple, yet effective, ways on how you can build a stronger brand, earn more sales, and survive in these uncertain times.
Showcase locally-made products
- Now, more than ever, consumers want to buy from local brands to support the domestic economy. By highlighting that you are a local brand and are selling locally-made products on your website and ads, you may be able to attract some customers and boost sales
Present information that is relevant to consumers
- Make sure that your website and marketing collateral feature key information that consumers need including product availability, speed of delivery, return policy, and shipping fees. You might also want to modify your product descriptions for them to become more relevant to your customers’ changing needs during the pandemic.
Offer online gift cards
- As people switch to online shopping, now is a good time to offer online gift cards that will encourage them to purchase products even without going to your physical store.
Engage customers through social media
- Connect with your customers in a time of social distancing through popular social media platforms. Stay active and post relevant content that will promote discussion to give your brand a human element.
Manage your customers’ expectations when it comes to delivery
- Make sure that you make your customers aware of the possible delays on delivery, especially if you’ve just transitioned to ecommerce. It is better to be honest and transparent than to lose customers because of miscommunicated time estimates.
Want to discuss your specific business situation? Schedule a session with us to plan your business recovery.
How to Manage an Underperformer Remotely
Although many businesses are re-opening and some people are returning to the office, the work from home setup will persist. As a business leader, you will be faced with new challenges such as managing an underperformer in your remote team. This Harvard Business Review article shares some tips on how to handle such situation effectively so your operations won’t be affected:
Revisit your expectations.
- Review your recent directives and check if you have communicated your expectations clearly and consistently from the beginning. Also, identify where the underperformer’s difficulties come from.
Learn more about them.
- Know their goals and what they care about. Learn about their remote set-up, schedule, and home obligations so you can adjust your management approach to match their needs.
Level with them and be specific.
- Provide feedback to give them an opportunity to actively make some changes in their practices that are not working.
Help them learn how to improve their own performance.
- You can avoid micromanaging by using questions so they can self-assess, modify what needs to be improved, and project into their own future.
Stay in close enough contact.
- Stay in touch regularly and keep them in the loop. If you feel like you’re not getting a good read on your team member’s state of mind because you communicate mostly via email or chat messages, plan some of your interactions by phone and listen intently. The tone of their voice will give you more clues about what needs intervention.
If you need more techniques to strengthen your relationship with your team, improve performance, and consequently boost your business results, feel free to get in touch with us.
State grants and support programs
Along with national assistance, each state and territory has announced various grants and assistance packages which you may be eligible for. If you are unsure, contact us so we can discuss which options are most suitable for your business based on your eligibility.
ATO Tax Time Toolkit
The ATO’s Tax Time Toolkit has some useful guides for small businesses on topics such as: home-based business expenses, motor vehicle expenses, travel expenses and pausing or permanently closing your business due to Coronavirus. Ask us if you have any questions.
Get Cyber Savvy!
Scammers are taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to con people into giving their money or confidential personal information. Here are some of the Covid-19 scams to look out for:
- Scams offering COVID-19 testing, vaccine, or cure
- Fake charities
- “Person in need” scams
- Scams targeting Social Security benefits
While the reason behind the fraud is new, the tactics are familiar. The best defence is to say No if anyone contacts you asking for your bank account information, credit card details, or driver’s licence number; someone you don’t know requests money through payment app or pre-paid gift cards; someone you don’t know sends you a cheque for some reason and asks you to send a portion back; or simply your gut tells you that it is too good to be true or it doesn’t feel right.
On the Bright Side…
We’re now in the third quarter of 2020 and we are still in the grips of a global pandemic– leaving many scared, frustrated, and struggling. However, among the dire news, there have been a few bright spots, as this article points out, with a listing of 100 positive things that have happened so far in 2020. For example, drive-in movie theatres are showing a resurgence, adoption and fostering of homeless animals has risen, and museums around the world have opened for virtual tours.
We understand that this year seems incredibly hard, and it surely doesn’t feel like a moment when you can easily see the glass as half full or make lemonade out of lemons. While it’s okay to not be okay, we encourage you to find the silver linings.
Get in touch
Contact us if you have any questions or want to discuss the next steps for your business.
