HOW TO KEEP BUSINESS RUNNING DURING COVID ERA?
Coronavirus pandemic eruption has turned the life at 360 degrees. Covid has not only affected businesses, but also impacting lives in terms of habits and psychology. Habits depend to a great extent on the environment and circumstances. Post Covid, the world has changed. Many business-as-usual approaches to serving customers, working with suppliers, and collaborating with colleagues or just getting anything done has changed beyond the imagination. Today, people are not visiting offices and are no more seeing colleagues. Customers not visiting showrooms. Work from home culture has grappled the entire world. Employees are spending more time with their families, which can turn negative if not managed properly. Amidst all the chaos created by the pandemic, two questions are to be answered for the better understanding of current time.
Is there a way out to continue our business in these critical and extraordinary times?
How to keep business running?
Constraints drive innovation and force focus. Entrepreneurs have peculiar strength. They have the power to get out of every challenging situation. Inspiring entrepreneurs are looking for new possibilities. Their readiness is setting and reinventing the organization for the new environment. As they say, the key to survival is preparedness. The entrepreneur has witnessed top performing markets and a recession in the past. But still no one expected pandemic. No matter what time is, one thing is for sure that there is no time when business does not happen. Business will exist till the human race.
Considering the market is changing every week (and for the worse), it is imperative to reconsider the business model and reassess where your business stands as per your assumptions concerning the revenue and cost. This is also a crucial time to track current financial metrics and cash flow. Be mindful of what your runway is.
Reinventing products and supply model are definitely the area to consider and work upon. Before the time takes us into its grip new strategies have to be developed to combat the times to keep business survived. If we look carefully, we can see that there is no major change in the requirements except the diminished magnitude. There is no way downfall in demand because of any new innovation and no contemporary products are obsolete. Also, there is no change in senses & style of food and fashion. This implies we need not to change products. The service industry is effected for sure in certain ways. Few service industries have been affected badly, whereas few services have seen surges in demand due to changed scenario. For example, travel and hospitality industries have been affected badly during recent times. But requirements for the products we need to live our lives are more or less same except the change in our habits of consuming the products. Excessive spending is slowed down.
The pandemic is coming in centuries and it is just a matter of the fact that we are facing the Covid era. Since, it is difficult to gauge how long this epidemic will last consider this time is a test for survival. If you can survive for the next two years, even maintaining the lowest profit margins and nominal sale, you are the winner. Just like our body needs immunity from outer world challenges so is true with our businesses also.
Launching new business models
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
Albert Einstein, Scientist
Technology is the boon for these challenging times. The coming time will witness the incline of heavy traffic towards the online platform. During the Coivd period, people are finding it difficult to go out and visit showrooms, gym, classless. Moreover, during this lockdown phase, people are willing to learn new skills. Taking your business online is a must need of the time. Since number of customers visiting showrooms have drastically reduced, taking decision to launch your business online is a most required move. It starts with getting your product catalogue online. You should have a professional looking website available for your customers with all products listed with detailed specifications and pricing. If your product suits for online sale, an eCommerce website is a sure way to help your customers to take benefit of your home delivery service. The website will also help you to get meaningful reports to analyze your business sale, and possibilities for you to take proper decisions.
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Improving productivity.
Businesses have streamlined decisions and processes, empowered Frontline leaders, and suspended slow-moving hierarchies and bureaucracies. If you have a manual system for serving your customers, you should think of going to computerized software system. For standard requirements, ready products are available in the market, but if you have specific requirements which cannot be fully filled by ready available products, you can go for a customized software solution. Ready products come with standard features which you might not like in certain situations. A customized software system can help you in such situations. Reporting of this software will help you to improve efficiency in delivering and maintain stocks.
Taking care of business at micro level helps not only in increased efficiency but also helps in cost saving. Having more time can enhance your products and service values and takes your product to new dimensions. Keeping customers to your side at this time by offering different offers and options will help to retain the business.
Finally, the Board of directors & leaders should help improve the culture of the organization and develop opportunity and accountability from the bottom up. Employees with boosted morals will help you to sail through these difficult times. So invest time and money on them.
and….
There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.
