During this challenging time, our priorities remain with our families and communities. However, if you are a small business owner, there are many things you can do to think about how you can move your business forward.
We’ve put together 5 ways to use this time to your advantage:
- Accounting/Finance. Clean up your books. Your accountant can make sure that your books reflect the true health of your business. Have a full financial review done and understand exactly where you are spending money. Look to see which items can be put on “pause” during this time in order to cut back. It is also worthwhile to perform appropriate tax planning. Your accountant or financial planner can take steps early to ensure that your tax situation is optimized for all present and future scenarios.
- Revise Your Business Plan. When was the last time you looked at your business plan? Revisit your plan and make sure it still makes sense in a post-COVID-19 world. A good business plan guides you through each stage of managing your business. It can help you get funding or bring on new business partners. This plan will help guide you for the next several years.
- Put together a succession plan. Make sure that your key employees are trained in all aspects of your operation so that if a key member of your management team leaves or gets sick, a replacement is prepared to step in, with no discernible loss of productivity, until you are able to hire a new person or promote from within.
- Social Media. Now is the time to amp up your social media accounts. Depending on which social media platform makes the most sense for your business, this would be a great way to interact with your customers. Since most people are at home, they are online and staying in touch and keeping up with the news via social media. This will help you stay relevant; and you don’t have to spend a lot of money to attract new customers.
- Improve your website. Revisit your website to ensure your brand is still on point in a COVID-19 world. Make sure your home page lets customers know if you are temporarily closed, have new hours, or if you have a new way of doing business. If it makes sense, maybe you could add a COVID-19 section and have all of the relevant information there. Review your website to make sure your website is not cluttered or hard to navigate on mobile and desktop. If web copy is bad or doesn’t show the value of your company, potential customers will be turned off. Make sure you have a call-to-action on your home page, such as downloading content or signing up for your newsletter.
These are just a few steps you can take as we strive to get back to business. Most importantly, we hope you and your family members are staying healthy during this time. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about your business, or if we can help in any way.
