7 Tips to Business Survival in COVID-19
With uncertainty regarding how long the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic will continue, experts suggest we are still in the beginning stages. Unfortunately, small businesses already feel the drastic affects. Whether this pandemic resolves within the next month or two or stretches on as a long-term crisis, we need to prepare. Therefore, it is time for small business owners to buckle down and reassess their current business strategy. In the content below, we provide seven tips to business survival through the duration of COVID-19.
7 Tips to Business Survival in COVID-19
#1. Analyze Your Ongoing Operational Costs
The first tip to business survival is to analyze the costs of keeping your doors open. Examine through the lens of two scenarios. First, assess your operational costs for normal, day-to-day business endeavors. Then, prepare a minimal, “bare-bones” strategy for instances with a fraction of your average profit margins, such as the case with the current Coronavirus pandemic.
Here are two ways to strategically align your operational costs with the current economy:
Remove Unnecessary Expenses
Research where you allocate your funds, calculated to the exact cent. Organize each spending category in order of importance. Assess expenses that are temporarily – or entirely – avoidable, and begin removing them from your budget.
Think about how you can reduce any other expenses without affecting the quality of your services or operations, such as excess marketing or rent for an unused storage facility. Many businesses operate with excess. This is the perfect opportunity for your business to beat competitors by running more efficiently. Efficiency is imperative to succeeding during a pandemic or any other economic crisis.
Strategize Your Staff’s Employment
In order to keep their doors open, thousands of businesses may have to lay off employees through the duration of COVID-19. Therefore, to prevent letting go of dedicated employees, cut unnecessary expenses to delay reducing valuable staff.
However, after making every necessary budget cut to operate efficiently, you may need to begin assessing which staff can be let go. Have you considered replacing a full-time employee with a healthy, U.S.-based outsourced bookkeeping service? Oftentimes, small businesses choose to outsource their accounting services as opposed to hiring a full-time, on-site bookkeeper. As a result, they drastically reduce overhead expenses while maintaining accounting responsibilities.
#2. Adapt to Current Market Trends
Remember, it takes time to put a new strategy into motion. Therefore, make a realistic timeline in which you plan to carry out budgeting and staffing adjustments. Additionally, prepare to alter plans in accordance with the economy and corresponding news.
Business and marketing trends will be difficult to predict and understand during unprecedented times, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, consider this an advantage for your small business.
Can your business provide its product or services remotely? Perhaps you can strategize your marketing plan and reposition your business’ brand. By adapting to current market trends, you may not only survive COVID-19, your business could also have an entirely new revenue stream or business pathway to leverage.
#3. Evaluate Your Competition’s Strategy
By evaluating how your competition responds to the Coronavirus pandemic, you can do one of two things: adapt or react. If how your competitor is responding attracts business, adapt your strategy to mimic theirs. However, if you see a competitor’s strategy failing, allow your strategy to react in response, positioning your business for success.
For example, is your competitor thriving as they offer remote services? To better match and rise above your competition, strive to make business adjustments that better serve during a pandemic such as the COVID-19 outbreak. Perhaps begin offering remote services and better customer service, letting you clients know they are still important to you.
#4. Consider the Value of Your Time
Is there something you could be doing to use your time in more valuable ways? This pandemic is an excellent opportunity to practice introspection. As a small business owner, one of the most difficult things to come to terms with is knowing when your business is overindulging into both your profits and time and learning how to stop.
Assess Your Business Time Management
Evaluate how much time you spend in general management and accounting tasks. For example, how much time do you allocate towards understanding the current revenue you are generating or could be generating? By tracking time spent on each business aspect, you can learn what you dedicate towards playing catch up versus growing your brand. Especially in times of crisis, you can begin restructuring to optimize time management.
#5. Do Not Ignore the Long-Term
Amid a global change, how are your customers altering the way they think, prepare, and spend their time and resources? In what ways will your customers remain changed after the pandemic passes? Perhaps largely using services or buying products remotely may be a switch customers make.
While the current pandemic continues to dominate the short-term mindset, it is imperative not to get lost in it. The long-term is equally important. Therefore, consider whether traditional business models will continue making sense for your business once the economy and public adjust to a “new normal.” For example, corporate and public buildings require enforcement on a capacity limit. Whether a movie theater only holds 300 people, or a coffee shop holds 125, businesses may need to restructure for a safer, limited capacity to create a hygienic environment for customers.
Begin assessing now how you can prepare your business strategy and survival to extend into a post-COVID-19 society.
#6. Take Advantage of Quarantine
During a pressing time, small business owners are looking for advice and answers. Business survival through COVID-19 is much more difficult when a small business owner lacks the tools or knowledge to press forward.
Therefore, in a time of social distancing, take the opportunity to thoroughly assess how you can advance your business and come out stronger than your competition once normalcy returns. While you competitors may use this time for damage control, you can seize the opportunity to get ahead. Dig through your data to gain a better understanding of your business, cashflow, customers, vendors, competition, and the future.
The most important thing you can do right now is to listen and adapt to your current environment. Therefore, take the entrepreneurial approach and read, take online courses, and learn about how you can grow your business strategy amidst the current economic culture.
#7. Keep an Open Mind, and Stay Positive
It is difficult to keep up with small business needs if you are not healthy. Therefore, we implore you to continue practicing social distancing measures and keep at-risk populations protected.
By following the CDC guidelines, you likely will spend most of your time at home, more than ever before. However, do not view this as a setback. Instead, consider the opportunities to build and further your entrepreneur skills! Spend any available time reading expert advice, researching business competition, and study entrepreneurs who accomplished goals like yours.
Strategize Your Business COVID-19 Survival with Remote Quality Bookkeeping
By outsourcing your bookkeeping and accounting tasks, your business can maintain receiving important and accurate financial reports in a timely manner. At Remote Quality Bookkeeping, we are dedicated to helping you obtain the necessary information to make effective business and revenue decisions during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Our team of specialists provides cost-effective, efficient, and accurate bookkeeping services for small businesses and franchisees throughout the United States.
Are you ready to begin implementing your COVID-19 business and accounting strategies today? Contact us today at (866) 567-4258 or via our online contact form with any questions or to learn more about our services!
