08.05.2020   

FOUR WAYS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITIES IN TIMES OF CRISIS

Times are uncertain, and for business owners, the pandemic situation and the restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus have made the environment appalling.

Following social distancing guidelines can be inconvenient and many companies face short-term losses and bleak prospects, writes the online edition entrepreneur.com.

Taking care of your business during a crisis is vital. Let's look at some practical and responsible strategies that can help you maintain your business even in this difficult time.

Focus on the company culture

Whether you work alone or have employees, your company has a culture. It is your ethos, your main meaning that sets you apart from your competitors.

According to a study by IBM, employees who have a strong relationship with their company and their colleagues perform better for their employers. That's right: a cohesive company culture leads to better experiences for both your employees and your customers.

So while you're slowing down, take some time to think about the type of business you want to run. Take some energy to encourage employees to think of themselves as a vital community, even if you all work remotely. The culture can be cultivated even from a distance. A shared sense of purpose and commitment to collective goals can establish your company as a great place to work.

Get closer to your community

Whether you own an accounting firm, a fabric store or a landscaping company, you are part of a community. Even online business is based somewhere.

Use the current break to build stronger connections with your neighbors. Explore your community and see what your company can do for it. If you can take on food supplies - do it. Is there an educational program that you can offer for free to parents to take care of their children - give it to them.

Strengthening ties with your community will speed up your recovery when the economy opens up.

Focus on what your customers need

When frightened consumers emptied shelves of disinfectants and staple foods in stores, what did large and small distilleries do? They shifted their production to mass quantities of hand sanitizers.

You could always rethink the goods and services you sell to meet new consumer needs. Restaurants, forced to close their salons, deliver ready-made food to the doorstep or sell food. Fabric stores offer protective masks. Accountants are exploring the new rules to help their clients keep as much of their money as possible.

When the market changes, the business must also change.

Adapt your content

Creating dynamic content for your website is one of the tasks you can focus on now. Generate content that will engage your customers and help promote your brand and your business.

Whether you're starting a company blog, creating fun and informative videos, or just updating information about your company's offerings, do it now. This makes sense, especially at a time when most people are at home, on their computers.

Not convinced that fresh content and strong SEO matter? Take a look at the statistics. A total of 72 percent of online marketers believe that content marketing is the most effective SEO strategy.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 40 percent of businesses do not open after a disaster. This is a sobering statistic, and although we cannot anticipate or avoid any difficulty, what we can do is invest some time and energy in positioning the business to get into the best possible position.