Did your business suffer due to the coronavirus?
Jill Justin, a well-known small business entrepreneur, also came across challenges in the time of the pandemic. Her revenue dropped by up to 50% when she switched from physical classrooms to zoom online classes.
Even after the lockdown has ended, her challenges have instead taken a heavy toll on her. With restrictions of keeping social distance and following other SOPs, students’ capacity per class has reduced, thus reducing her income.
After months of worry and fatigue, Jill finally decided to get advice from entrepreneurial and financial experts. Here are the tips that were shared by the experts and should be considered lifelines to survive in the market if you are struggling as a small-business owner.
1. Keep your doors open
It is true that small-businesses have suffered significantly more than large-scale businesses, with many on the edge of closing down. Some have already shut their doors, too. This means if your clientele has reduced, shutting off would mean zero revenue. A wiser option to consider is to keep your business afloat.
Forecasts show that 60% of the companies that will close down in pandemic will not open again. Therefore, the biggest challenge is to survive and stay in business during this challenging period if you prefer to remain in the same occupation.
2. Figure out a new strategy
If you plan to continue your already set-up business and turn losses into profitable revenues, the next step is to adopt strategies that would aid your company in this lockdown. For instance, upgrade your working style and use gadgets and applications to reach out to your customers.
User-friendly apps, buying-selling platforms like Zoom, Facebook, and Instagram would also allow you to make your product reachable to a larger market audience. The use of social media to promote and attract customers would again turn out to be more cost-effective in the long run.
3. Reset your business
If you were thinking of switching the business even before this pandemic, now is the right time to achieve your goal. Or, if you have already closed, hitting the reset button is essential.
You cannot sit idly at home, breathing on your savings. Think of a business idea suitable to the current situation where people prefer to buy goods and services from their homes while simultaneously, finalizing a business idea, keeping in mind that the global market is now shifting to an online system.
You may start giving online classes in a subject that interests you or a skill that you’re you’re best at. Use social media as the central platform. It would help you reach out to more customers and reduce many fixed costs, such as property rent of the workplace and other maintenance and running costs associated with it.
4. Seek help and advice
Still, after the suggestions given above, if you feel lost, seek help from support groups or friends. You would be surprised to see how you will gain back the enthusiasm to revive yourself in this period of crisis. You can explore the hidden talents in you. All you need is a few strings of advice.
5. Keep your hopes positive
If you look at the positive side of the pandemic, you’d observe that these small businesses can unleash new markets that were previously out of reach. You will also learn to face challenges and embrace changes with positivity in any future crisis.