Protect Your Business From The Effects Of COVID-19 Outbreak

The COVID-19 outbreak is without doubt affecting every industry right now - big or small and no business will be immune to the effects of it. It’s a far-from-hopeless situation though. If you act fast and implement the right strategies then your business can battle through and still stay moving. Here are some simple tips to protect your business through these uncertain times.

Remote Working

I’m sure most of you reading this will be working remotely unless you are a superhero key worker saving our butts and helping kick COVID’s butt. It’s imperative that those who can, should work remotely and set up the infrastructure to get your team all moving in the same direction. Organisational apps like Slack, Airtable and Monday are so handy and very intuitive tools to organise workflow and collaboration. Couple this with a video conferencing service like Zoom and you’re off and running!

Government Business Support

It’s a financially scary time for most, but the government assistance can be a huge help to take some of the pressure off most businesses who are eligible. You can find information and help on paying employee wages, sick pay, tax, business rates relief, support grants, self-employed support and more. It’s all here.

Keep Communicating With Your Customers

Any business worth their salt keeps customer engagement at the forefront of their business strategies. Without customers, there’d be no business. Send email updates to reassure your customers that you are taking the necessary steps to protect them and keep your business running so you can continue to be able to help them. Also keep it light and give them little tidbits of insight into what you’re doing on a day-to-day basis. It’s important you let them know that they can reach out to you if they have questions, and actively encourage this engagement.

Step Up Your Socials

If you’re anything like me, sometimes social media can take a back seat to the daily tasks of running a business. But now, more than ever, is a great time to be active. Your customers are already on there, and screen time is surely to be sky rocketing right now. Positivity is the order of the day here - keep it light, keep it friendly and keep it regular. Engaging on social media platforms gives your business the chance to showcase your business tone and personality and keeps you at the forefront of people’s minds.

Shake Up Your Sales Strategies

The ability to adapt speedily will help you stay ahead of the game and now could be a good time to pivot or focus on certain key areas that you know can still be profitable or viable at this time. Offer products and services that can be delivered online, like consultation services or online classes and use your imagination! Think of what value you can still offer your customers and who knows you could come up with an entirely new string to your revenue stream bow.

Designidge at a Distance!

OK so I used that heading mainly for the alliteration! But I am still firing on all cylinders and happy to help out your business wherever I can. I’m currently offering a 10% discount on all orders during the pandemic to help lighten the load (20% off for you first timers!) . I can also offer longer run times on printed items to cut costs and offer flexible payment terms too.

It may seem like a bad time to be looking at design and print but if your business is quiet at the moment, now would be a good time to improve and strengthen your communication materials, advertising and branding to hit the ground running when the dust settles.

When the scramble back to the starting line eventually comes, your business needs to be fit and ready. For some ideas head over to my other blog on Business Boosting Ideas (hyperlink to other blog)

Stay safe, stay healthy and stay positive!

Nige