Staying Afloat As A Small Business During The Pandemic

Tough times don’t last but tough people do. At this time a lot of economic reforms and changes are being made, and it is no gainsaying that small business is part of the most hit, by the change in several business policies. 

It is still not comforting to note that the challenges faced, are trickling down the chain right from the government to the least individual. Right now, most businesses are doing what they can to survive and remain relevant and this includes massive layoff, as well as pay cuts. 

For many SMEs, these decisions, cannot be magnified without having a major strain on the nature of the business. At this point, staying relevant has become an uphill task, seeing that the baton of power has shifted in favor of essential services, hence what do you do if you don’t offer an essential service but need to stay afloat?  

Weigh The Cost

More than ever, this is the time to re-evaluate your business and the impact the new economy has made on it so far. What new costs have been incurred in this business? Will the structure still remain the same even after all these are over? 

Reevaluating your business would give you a sense of direction, and in between, provide solutions on the way forward post-COVID. This would also help know the impact the pandemic has had on the business, as well as the underlying factors. It would be great to be positive about this, and see this as a major reform that your business really needs, and can’t do without. Somewhere along the line, you may find out that they are recoverable losses, trusting yourself to do to work to gain back all your losses. 

Carry Out Research

At a time like this, you need to increase your research skill, to know more about your market, and in the same vein keep up with the trend. In your research you can also include competitor analysis. What are your competitors doing differently? Is it something you can also adopt for your business, while you answer that, think about the sustainability of such processes, and what your business stands to gain by doing such. 

The world is now a global village, thanks to the internet, and mobile connection, you can get all these answers at the tip pf your fingers, all you need to do is look for them in the right places, and get wild on data collection and analysis, it might not have mentioned before, but in this age and time, data drives business decisions.

Engage New Ideas

You know how we subconsciously hope to experience a new era/new age, well the good news is here, because post-COVID, the world would experience a new era and a new system of living. Rather than wait, why not start making moves that would balance up with the new changes that we would expect to see. 

No one might have ever imagined that face masks would become a necessity, so much so that it is now being gradually incorporated into our normal day to day activities. In several countries around the world, there has been a strict policy for the use of face masks to perform outdoor duties, and the truth is that, this has come to stay. 

This is the time to start sourcing out ideas on what problems your business can solve, and if you like, you can start up a new business entirely to fit with upcoming challenges that would face the average man when we can see clear skies once more. ‘The early bird catches the fattest worm’ definitely applies to this situation. What new solution can you and your business bring post COVID?  Begin to ponder on these things. 

Evolve

As you have already noticed, the world is moving into the online phase, and right now most businesses are carrying out online transactions with their client and even staff. As a small business, you shouldn’t be stiff-necked about making a break as well into this structure of business dealing, instead, search out ays you can use this to your advantage. 

Evolving also means adapting to the new way of life of your clients and customers and updating your perceptions about them. A lot of things have definitely changed, and right now consumer behaviors for various businesses have witnessed a significant change. Getting involved and staying abreast of these changes, would your business a whole lot of good. 

As an SME, the advantage you have is that decisions don’t go through rigorous processes before being implemented, hence they are being acted n at the speed of arrival. Use this to your gain, and find a new balance for your business Remember to stay safe on the process as well.