Tips to Plan for Your Business Amid Corona Crisis

In the middle of a crisis like this Corona pandemic, it can be easy for businesses to develop shortsightedness. Unsurprisingly, you just want to focus on the survival methods of your business. However, it is also true that it is quite hard to plan for an unclear future!

But you can always have a recovery plan to overcome any crisis. And for successful implementation, you must think about certain things that will look like after the calamity abates and get ready to maneuver your business to be well-positioned to taste the success when the right time comes. However, it is easier said than done! So, to help you in this quest, we have prepared two segments. So, let us get started with the first one:

Questions You Should Ask Yourself to Plan Better

Every business owner must ask the following questions to themselves to have a solid long-term plan:

How will the needs of consumers change after the coronavirus pandemic?

If it is projected that the needs of your consumers may change, it is good to focus on what might they ask you that they have not in the past or before Covid-19!

Do your offerings relate well to those evolving needs?

Thoroughly evaluate whether your products or services can relate to those changing needs or not. If you feel that you can still serve them well, then it is a good idea to double-down the existing model of your business. If anyhow your offering will no longer be suitable, then you must envision how you can tweak them.

What will be the structure of your particular competitive landscape after Covid-19?

It is a bitter truth that many businesses will not be able to survive this economic downturn associated with the crisis. In this condition, you should start analyzing your competitors to see what they mean for your precise industry? Will there be any opportunity to expand your dedicated customer base? Could you acquire an opponent company?

By finding the answers to these questions, you can get a bit of an idea about the future. Considering these aspects can greatly help you pivot your business tomorrow to meet the evolving demand. But yes! You must understand that it is nearly impossible to foresee the future with 100% accuracy. So, it is advisable to consider several other scenarios to plan well.

Essential Steps to Plan for the Future of Your Business

According to Lil Roberts (founder and CEO of Xendoo), small businesses must remain forward-thinking and forward-looking amidst any crisis. Implementing a daily planning meeting is critical for key stakeholders to review the new information that is coming out and adapt. Consistent communication and transparency with their teams and customers will also help them come through stronger than they were before.

Besides, Wendy O’Donovan Phillips (CEO of Big Buzz Inc.) suggested the following to ensure that you are ready when this outbreak finally recedes:

1. Collect Customer Data Through Surveys

To plan well, you should know what your targeted customers are thinking. For this, you can run surveys and focus on groups to hear from your audience firsthand. According to Phillips, ‘Avoid making assumptions about their needs and fear, and get right at the heart of the matter by gathering voice-of-the-customer data’.

2. Always Maintain Your ‘Service-First’ Mindset

Undeniably, sales and revenue are crucial but it is even more important to readily available for your customers as well as the community. By following the ‘service-first approach’, you can better serve your customers instead of counting on your ‘old school’ business model which might not be relevant after this pandemic. For this, Phillips advised, ‘think in terms of what customers need now as opposed to what they historically needed from your company’. Surveys that you ran will immensely help you here.

3. Take Out Some Time for Communication

If you can, it is good to focus on personalized communications with your teams as well as customers. By doing this, you can reassure them and build a strong relationship during such a difficult time. You can send mass emails or text messages with the opening lines – ‘I wanted to check-in on you and how are you doing at this moment’ to personalize the conversation.

4. Re-examine the SWOT Analysis

A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) is extremely important as the scenario has been changed due to Corona. Philips said that your clients and community have different needs now than they did even a month ago, and will have different needs in another month. So, this analysis will help you more readily hit your revenue and profit projections.

5. Modify Your Strategic Planning Model

You must have everything to support your strategy. You must work on your strategic planning and share the same with other members so that they can understand the possible changes. According to Phillips, ‘[Create] a one-page document shared once weekly with the entire team to show: the vision; [the] revised revenue goal; objectives, or destinations, that the team [should] reach to get to the production goal; and strategies, or actions, that the team can take to achieve each objective’.

Conclusion

We all know that this crisis will be over soon but your business should not be affected by it. Hence, you must start preparing from today so that you can help your business overcome this pandemic. For this, keep the points listed in this post in your mind or simply connect with a digital marketing company for the right assistance and guidance.