We’ve never really seen anything like this before. Sure, in recent times countries have had to deal with the SARS virus and Ebola, but it was never at this scale. Regions were affected, but in the grand scheme of things it was a minor blip on the radar. Regional economies were hurt but the world remained unaffected, bouncing back as if nothing had happened. Coronavirus too may have stayed on the periphery and not made it to the global arena, except it did and now that it has, there is no going back. We don’t have a vaccine for the virus and we won’t till at least the next year and a half. We might be headed to the next recession, one can’t really say. Factories have been shut down and the world is going into a lockdown. The supply chains are being disturbed. Economists at the Fed’s St. Louis district predict that total of 47 million people will be laid off from their jobs. We’re looking at a 32.1% unemployment rate. This is a result of businesses cutting their losses in face of a decrease in business. Your business too should prepare for tough times ahead. In this blog, you will know about Keeping Your Business Afloat: Steps to Take amid COVID-19.
Table of Contents
Introduce a Work from Home Model- your business afloat
Many of the leading firms, including Google and Twitter, are encouraging their employees to work from home (WFH). This strategy curbs the spread of the virus all the while ensuring that productivity doesn’t suffer. Of course, all the essential staff whose nature of work doesn’t not allow for WFH still come to office, but given that the number of people present in the physical space is less, the chances of virus spreading decreases.
However, if you want to emerge successful, you must ensure that the WFH model is executed correctly. Do you use good communication platforms like Asana and Trello. Can employees access the needed information? Do you use cloud storage? These are all important questions to ask.
Cancel Launches and Other Such Events
Social distancing is all that we have against COVID-19 so if there are any corporate dinners, picnics or conference planned for the near future, you’d do well to cancel them. In addition to this, you might want to cancel product launches and exhibitions. The top priority for everyone at this time is their lives and they won’t care about what you have to launch especially if they have to get to a crowded place for it. So, until the crisis subsides just postpone all the events.
Maintain a Strong Presence on Social Media
Since everyone is working from home and practicing social distancing, you don’t have much chance of advertising your product to them, so what can you do?
Locked indoors, people are spending more and more time online to fight the boredom and this is your chance to shine. Use social media to strengthen your marketing efforts. Talk about your efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, highlight your products, offer deals, promote online shopping and improve your ecommerce store to get customers to purchase your items.
Work on your SEO
Since all marketing events are out of question you might want to focus on tweaking your online website. This is a great time to do an SEO audit. You’ll be able to increase the visitors to your site without having to walk out the door. Check which areas need improvement? Is it content or keywords? Maybe you need to revise the graphics. You should also consider updating your blogs and adding information to boost your ranking.
Focus on Other Projects
Launching a product may be out of the cards at the moment, but there’s still so much you can do for your brand. You can invest your team in coming up with an effective content strategy, create online webinars and ebooks to strengthen the brand message.
Help Your Community
It is important to remember that everyone is going through a hard time. It’s not only jobs that are being affected. Families too are being torn apart. In these trying times it is essential that we practice niceness. So, make an effort to help anyone around who is infected using your resources, services, technology, and skillset, whatever you can. It may not be the most effective business strategy, but it is the right thing to do.
Final Words
This is a huge moment in human history and how we respond to this pandemic will shape our future to keep your business afloat. The economy will suffer that is for certain but businesses can help mitigate this crisis by strategizing. And, whatever we do, we must not panic. It can prove deadly. At the same time make sure to keep abreast with the latest and ensure you do not forward fake news. Use authentic sources. If you have Silver Spectrum channels, you’ll have access to a number of local and international news channels. Whatever information you get, cross check to confirm it. Till then, stay safe and work hard to keep your business afloat. This too shall pass.
