It’s pretty fair to say that none of us were prepared for quite how much of an impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on all of our lives. This is especially true for small business owners who don’t necessarily have the support or infrastructure in place that much larger corporations might have. Small businesses all over the world have been impacted by the pandemic and it can be an incredibly scary time. However, that doesn’t mean that you’re powerless as a business owner. There are always things that you can do to keep your business going during this turbulent period. Here are just a few of them.
Protect your employees
The single most important thing, above all else, when running your business during COVID-19 is making sure that your employees are safe and protected. No matter what else you need to focus on, this should always come first. The ways that your employees could be impacted by COVID is going to depend heavily on the kind of business you’re running. Different industries are finding themselves in very different situations such as the way COVID-19 is impacting plumbers compared to the impact that it is having on people working in online spaces. As long as you’re striving to keep your employees safe at all times, you are already dealing with COVID in the best way possible.
Adjust working methods
No matter how much you might want to keep your business the same as it ever was, that’s simply not going to be possible for many people in the current situation. Your working methods will need to be adjusted to account for the ways that all of our lives have changed. Social distancing measures and new lockdown rules will mean that your working methods will need to be far more flexible than ever before. This could involve everything from making schedules more flexible to making sure that you’re still able to offer high-quality customer service.
Maintain clear communication
Communication is always important to any business but it’s more important now than ever. However, difficult this situation might be for businesses, it’s just as, if not harder, for individual people. Both your employees and your customers are likely deeply concerned and it’s your job to make sure that you communicate what is happening to them at all times. Your employees need to know the status of their jobs and how those will change, and your customers will need to know exactly how the products or services that they require will be impacted.
It’s easy to find yourself becoming frustrated and discouraged given the fact that none of us really know how long this is all going to last. However, it’s essential that we all keep pushing forward. As long as we’re being safe and responsible and are keeping everyone protected, there will come a time when this whole situation is a distant memory. Until that moment comes you need to pull together with your employees the best you can to weather this storm and come out stronger on the other side.