For over six months now, we have witnessed the novel coronavirus spread all over the world. To say that it has destroyed the global economy is simply an understatement. Several industries, including manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and entertainment, have suffered massive losses. Small businesses have particularly been hit hard by the pandemic and the lockdown, resulting in serious financial losses.
If you are a business owner, struggling with losses, then this is likely to be a very gloomy time for you. But if you look at the bright side, coronavirus cases are declining in several countries, and governments are now allowing businesses to resume their operations with necessary safety measures. This means that you can soon bring your business back to life. Before you restart your business, you should learn some strategies to prepare your business to make up for losses during the lockdown.
Strategy #1 – Motivate Your Employees
It is natural that due to the stressful pandemic situation, employee morale is low. Therefore, the first strategy to prepare your business to make up for losses during lockdown is to motivate your employees.
To motivate your employees, you should have regular engagement sessions on any virtual platform like Slack, Zoom, or Skype. Moreover, you should also create an employee incentive plan to reward employees for their excellent performance. This will encourage them to perform their very best once your business reopens.
Strategy #2 – Aim to Reduce Costs
Higher costs translate into lower profits and increased losses. The best to mitigate losses and move towards profits is to reduce your costs. A great way to cut costs is to partner with vendors and suppliers that offer competitive prices. You can also reduce financial expenditures by evaluating your insurance plans to ensure that there is no overlapping coverage.
Another excellent way to reduce costs is to eliminate discretionary spending. Discretionary spending can include costs associated with investments, travel, office improvements, etc.
Strategy #3 – Adapt Your Offering
To prepare your business to make up for losses during the lockdown, you should study post-lockdown trends. This will allow you to identify emerging trends and adapt your product or service in line with these trends. Alternatively, you can conduct also conduct customer surveys to identify potential behavior changes in customers.
For instance, during the lockdown, many households started ordering groceries online, and it is expected that they will continue to do so once the lockdown ends. So, if you are a grocery retailer, you should start thinking about incorporating a delivery service in your business. If you are already offering a grocery delivery service, then you might want to consider developing an app or add extra features such as multiple payment options.
Final Words
Sooner or later, the COVID-19 pandemic will come to an end. However, it is unlikely that life will return to the “normal” that we were accustomed to. Therefore, before the lockdown gets lifted, make sure you have a solid plan on how to prepare your business to make up for losses during the lockdown.
