5 Key Business Strategies to Follow After a Pandemic

Tragically,  COVID-19 has already claimed thousands of lives in the United States. To reduce the number of casualties, the government imposed mandatory quarantine and lockdown across the country, forcing businesses to close without the certainty of recovering from its losses.

However, after more than two months of lockdown, the government started to ease the restrictions that paved the way for businesses to reopen and adapt to the “new normal.”

Reopening is just one of the many challenges business owners at all levels are facing right now. They are also facing revenue loss, safety concerns, lack of supplies, and a lot more.

While numerous industries are allowed to reopen before others, there are new regulations and rules implemented that will forever change the standards in workplaces to operate in a post-pandemic world.

If you are one of those businesses that will be reopening soon, for sure there are tons of challenges that need to be hurdled in order to recover. In this post, let’s talk about some key business strategies that you can follow to help you get back on your feet after the pandemic.

Plan a Sound Business Strategy

First off; you have to admit to yourself that things will be completely different once the restrictions and shutdowns on businesses will be lifted. Social distancing will be strictly followed and crowd limits will be practiced. All these will definitely create an impact on your usual business operations. This will be the perfect time to come up with a sound strategy to adapt to this new change. Try re-positioning your business in order for it to adjust to the new changes to serve your customers better. You can offer new services and products or find a different way to serve your customers better. The best example is offering your products or services online. There are tons of ways to utilize the internet to keep your business operational.

Make Your Workforce Flexible

Even if the mandatory business shutdowns have been lifted, many business owners still have safety concerns. With this in mind, you should implement work from home policies to your employees if your business belongs to an industry that can shift employees to work remotely. If your operations require your employees to physically report in a workplace, try to establish a skeleton workforce with flexible shifting schedules to reduce the number of people working. This is to adhere to social distancing protocols. Business owners these days should be very flexible to keep the employees safe.

Prioritize Hygiene in the Workspace

Proper hygiene in your workspace not only keeps your employees safe but your customers as well. You have to invest in personal protective equipment (PPE) such as surgical or N95 masks, hand sanitizers, gloves, germicidal soaps, and disinfectants for your employees. This is to prevent infection and spread of the virus. Post hygiene guidelines in the workplace or establishment as a reminder to your employees.

Don’t Cut Production Too Much

A lot of businesses have a significant drop in sales and services over the past two months because of the lockdown, which resulted in declining revenue. This prompted many businesses to cut back on their production and services due to very low customer demand. However, as the country slowly lifts the restrictions, expect an increased demand once people are allowed to go out of their homes. It is essential to cut back on production if you view it from a financial standpoint of a business, but don’t cut back too far.

Utilize Other Channels for Sales

As you noticed; the majority of businesses that completely shut down due to the pandemic are brick and mortar establishments and stores. However, a lot of business owners have learned the importance of utilizing multiple sales channels. Businesses that have two or one sales channels are the ones that suffer during these times. So, you have to be very flexible by going online and learning e-commerce where your customers can enjoy your products or services through online shopping as they are confined to their homes. Use social media, create a website, and utilize SEO in order for your customers to continue to patronize your products or services and to widen your reach. Once you’ve established multiple sales channels, always remember to market it to everyone.

In these trying times, you should not give in to the unfortunate things happening around you.  As a business owner, this is the perfect time to act as a leader and help your business thrive and grow.

If you’re planning to open a new business like a restaurant, you can also check out these ten restaurant marketing strategies to help you jumpstart your business.