Small business have been massively affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and many have and will continue to struggle as we come out of this lockdown period. Here are a few tips for small businesses and sole traders to help navigate this tricky period.
- Stay Calm
Easy to say, harder to do. The current situation will affect people and their businesses at different times. Keeping a level head will ensure that you make informed decisions to help you and your business. No knee jerk reactions or decisions.
- Don’t bury your head in the sand
It’s easy to just ignore the situation and carry on regardless. That is not a good strategy, we are all going to be affected by this situation. Look at all aspects of the business and see what areas you can either pause or stop and what areas are worth focusing on.
- Conserve cash
Physical cash is going to be important to all businesses. Avoid all unnecessary expenditure. Take a look at your outgoings and decide what is essential and non-essential in your business. Maybe extend this to your personal expenses too. Where you can defer payments, ask for payment holidays.
- Keep Marketing/promoting
You may be under financial pressure but you still need to maintain a presence of some sorts, either digitally or socially. You may need to reduce your expenditure or take some of the activity in-house. But keep doing something, it is important to keep your digital presence maintained in some capacity. As and when this situation does pass, the noise in a marketing sense will be very loud and difficult for some to break through if you have stopped completely. Of all of the tips, this is the most important tip for small businesses! Bluespace Media offer a wide range of marketing services and packages for businesses of all sizes and budgets.
- Forecasting/planning
It will be difficult for many businesses to forecast and plan effectively in the current circumstances, but you should certainly keep track of what is actually happening on a daily/weekly basis, as if this situation extends into a few months you will be better prepared for that scenario and if this situation extends beyond 3-4 months as predicted.
- Stay Healthy
Easier said than done! But what I mean here is daily exercise. Get into a routine of doing something every day, whether that is a cycle, a run, a HIT routine, Yoga etc. This will not only add to your general well being it will also help to keep you positive mentally. Eat well, again difficult but make a conscious effort to eat the right things
- Keep in touch – Reach out to others
Everyone, I mean everyone, with a business large or small is going to suffer in some way, shape or form, during this situation. Whether it is loss of trade, reduction in customers, it will have a material impact on every type of business. Stay in touch with business friends and associates and don’t be afraid to talk about the reality of the situation. On the other hand be a good ear for those that might need your support and advice. At this time we are going to need to support each other more than ever.
These are just a few tips for small businesses to use during this period. At Bluespace Media we are committed to helping and working with small businesses who want to improve their online presence. Get in touch to see how we can help.
There are more free articles tips and ideas on our blog page. https://oldsite.bluespacemedia.co.uk/blog
