I hope you’re doing well, but with 196 countries and territories affected by the coronavirus COVID-19, times are hard now. And the number is still keeping the rise. Don’t forget the international conveyance “Diamond Princess” cruise ship harbored in Yokohama, Japan. Till this date there are around 400K total cases of patient infected by the virus, and it has taken lives of more than 15k people.
Seriously, it’s serious. Seems like economy would crash down very soon, and you’ve to shutdown your business putting a stone on your heart. Who would have thought that simply eating bats would lead to a pandemic. Or whatever the cause of its spreading. However, no matter how horrible the current situation is, a person can save his/her business in times like this. If he/she follow a well organized plan.
Therefore, I’ve created a list of 7 effective tips that can save your struggling business during this coronavirus pandemic. Without wasting any extra moment, let’s dive in.
7
(1) Check all facts, and avoid news that creates panic.
Maybe this disease has taken a large number of significant lives, but the bright side is there are more number of recoveries. What made this disease look severe is the focus of the media merely on the deaths. Check out the data below to clear your mind from the bad news of COVID-19.
If you look at the above image, then you’ll find that from 272,174 cases, there are only 4% of people are in serious condition. And from 119,996 cases with the outcome, there are only 14% of death occurs, whereas recovery has its percentage around 86. Therefore, whenever you come across news related to coronavirus reflecting fear, check all the facts behind it. And try to avoid fake news as much as possible.
Moreover, take safety procedures, such as wash your hands frequently with soap or an alcohol-based hand rub. And try to avoid touching your face and its other parts.
Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed ― Bob Riley
(2) Knowing how it’s affecting you or your business is crucial.
When we know what disease affecting our health, we tend to take better treatments for it. The same applies to the current situation. If your business is affected by the corona pandemic, the first step you should take is to understand what it is, which means, how it is affecting the world. Are there any business other than medics getting benefits from it, or there’s merely business failure everywhere.
By doing so, it would help you understand your client’s situation and how bad they’re affected by the corona crisis. Then, finally, after all the analysis and studying every area around your and your client’s business, prepare a survival plan, and take actions accordingly.
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail! ― Benjamin Franklin
(3) Help your clients more than anything.
As Ben Horowitz said in his, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, you should care about your clients and customers before anything else. It is undeniable for clients running a small business to get panic. Therefore, it is your time to help them, to make them feel safe, to make them realize that if we (you and your clients) take the right steps, then they can get the best out of this time. You can do this by having a daily conversation regarding current goals according to the situation. By showing them your survival plan created especially for your clients, and by giving them a proper idea of the market, i.e., how bad and good is the situation. And why they shouldn’t panic in the first place.
(4) Remember, your present is your future.
When time gets tough, most of the people start thinking about the future, that what will happen to their business. But this is the time to analyze what is happening to their business. During these hard times, it’s crucial that they should altogether avoid the words ‘WHAT IF’ because it will only damage their financial conditions if they focus on future scenarios. How? Because they won’t be able to work today having the worry of an adverse future sitting aside. Therefore, rather than keeping their eyes on tomorrow, they should start taking actions in the present, to get through this critical situation that happened due to the coronavirus.
(5) How working from home is a blessing.
Whether you have a large number of employees team, or small, working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic can help you in many ways. First, it gives you and your team members enough time to spend with the family and loved ones. Second, if you keep working at the office, there are probable chances that someone in your team could get infected by the virus and spread it to others. Thus, affecting your entire business workflow, whereas work from home eliminates this risk. Moreover, you can focus on your health and follow a self-routine instead of a 9 to 5 work policy.
Technology is far more advanced now than it was a couple of decades ago. It is best to take a step further and adapt this and to enter the virtual world. Therefore, working from home is wonderful and more than bliss.
When you work from home there is no such thing as a holiday― Anthony T. Hincks
(6) Cut-down margins.
If you have an eCommerce store, then the high chances are you’re witnessing a significant drop in your sales. The apparent reason is people are focusing on more important things now, which is completely justified. But if your living depends on your store only then, this can be the toughest time for you. However, to make something out of it, you’ll have to attract customers by doing basic seasonal things like offering discounts, freebies, free cancellations, etc.
(7) Arrange video-meetings.
When working from home, there are some chances that you or your team could leave behind while indulging themselves in a particular task. Therefore, to keep things rolling appropriately, don’t forget to arrange video meetings or communication on the workspaces, such as Slack, Bitrix24, Workplace, and more. Furthermore, if you’re working for an agency or regular clients, then its crucial to arrange video meetings to discuss the steps or the plan you’ve prepared to survive or do better in times like this. Take charge of things and make sure neither you nor your clients are losing business because of this pandemic.
A leader is one who know the way, goes the way and shows the way ― John C. Maxwell
Summary
There’s an old proverb that says, “If you can think it, then you can make it.” So, I hope you’ve understood the points mentioned above, and would take appropriate steps to help you and your business came out in good shape from this horrible environment created by the so-called Coronavirus.
Till then, stay safe and work hard!!
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