8 Unexpected Ways Lockdowns Get You Better Business

Saving Your Business from Your Couch

Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes

The world has been facing a lockdown. The business has faced a standstill. Things seem to be on hold. We have been facing the harsh reality for a while now. We are wondering if we will sail through this time and come out victorious. It sure seems tough but not impossible. There is a lot of positivity that can come out of this lockdown and I’ll try to list them here. These steps will make you reinvent your business to come out stronger than ever before.

1. Digital is the New Black

More and more businesses are embracing the digital economy. Small businesses are trying to go digital. Their products and services need to go online during this lockdown. Businesses are aiming at improving their current online presence with knowledge sharing. The current crisis has made the business world rethink their strategy. Their channels to generate revenue need to adapt with the digital age. It’s time to embrace the change and move ahead with the trend.

Every change is difficult but there are ways to tackle this situation. Businesses need to get connected with digital consultants. Understanding your business uniqueness is important. Consultants will help find ways to overcome the current challenges. It's time to move your business online and adapt to the digital age. The transition period will be crucial to your business revival. The right digital support will make your business capable of embracing the digital wave in no time.

2. Optimizing Your Current Resources

Your business comes with resources and yes it has assets as well. The lockdown has crippled a lot of them and made businesses stare at an empty dark tunnel with no light at the end. This is the time to look the other way and make the best of your current resources and assets. Your people define your business. The lockdown gives businesses the much needed time to improve team communication. They need to embrace tools to manage resources better than before. Training will help teams grow during the work-from-home period. They need support and encouragement along with the knowledge to remain relevant.

Technology integration with your current business processes is key. It will help you stabilize once operations begin. Businesses have been integrating, testing, analyzing services like Hubspot, Zoho and others. Understanding their customer journey will help make a change in the business strategy. Digital consultants will help businesses adapt their sales & marketing approach. The focus needs to be on digital growth.

3. Customer Loyalty Enhancement

The lifeline of every business is its customers. At the same time, customer retention is the most difficult task during this pandemic. Businesses need to reinvent methods to engage with their customers. The lost spark needs re-ignition. Get connected with your customers and keep the relationship going. Prepare the mailing list and collect data from past interactions, chats, invoices. It’s also time to focus on your digital presence through your website, social media and more. Prepare a digital engagement strategy to connect with your loyal customers. Tell them that you remember them.

Businesses have been active in the social engagement segment. Lots of them are building their digital brand presence. The goal is to stay alive even without sales. Constant engagement keeps businesses relevant once operations begin. In-house digital teams or outsourced agencies can help with this. It is important to build a customized digital strategy. Whatever the plan is, the time is now.

4. It’s All About Collaboration

How will businesses running on operations survive? The answer is through collaboration. This is the time to focus on networking. Creating the much-needed collaborations and partnerships will help your business. Strategic partnerships will help you survive any crisis. Business models need to change to incorporate business tie-ups. Collaboration helps you reach clients that were earlier not possible.

Most network marketing organizations including BNI have gone online during this lockdown situation. Meetings tend to happen via a video conference. Join a business growth programme and get to network with other businesses. Build relationships that will help your business flourish in the next few months. Two or more businesses could provide a packaged service. Think Swiggy and Big Basket together for Groceries.

5. Better Your Last Attempt

It’s time to think out of the box. Imagine the changes that will revolutionize your business and your industry. Prepare a blueprint for this big change. This is time to build technology for growth. It’s time to try out a shift from our old business ideas. It’s time to go fresh. Most people have ideas stored in the back of their heads with no time to put in place a plan for execution. This is that time. Start building a different future for your business.

Not all innovative ideas work. This does not mean that the ideas were bad. It wasn’t the right time. Work on the ideas to make them fit into the current situation. Bear in mind the lack of operational resources at this point. Businesses that can reinvent themselves during this lockdown will emerge stronger than ever. Most will also end up saving more money than others. Transform your attempt at surviving the lockdown into transitioning for bigger future growth.

6. Rewards of Honesty

Relationships need trust. This applies to business, friends, family and your teams. It’s a fact that the world is looking at an economic crisis. Business growth will be slow. Cashflows will diminish. Many businesses have started minimizing losses. Layoffs have begun. Some have initiated salary cuts. This is the perfect time to have a heart to heart conversation with your people about the ground reality. Honesty is key to building your team at this point.

The future growth of your business depends on your team today. Businesses are not one-man fights all odds story. It’s a collaborative effort with an underlying trust factor. Honesty is the key to understanding your team’s focus, dedication and value in your journey from here. Your people will define the growth of your business. A huge focus will be on digital growth in the next few months or years. Be honest with your team and with yourself right now. Proper communication will provide clarity to everyone on the road ahead. Managing team performance will be the key.

7. IT needs a Power-Up

Businesses have been integrating technology at a speed far slower than required. The current crisis has caught a lot of them off guard. Industries across the world face a challenge of survival today. Even technology companies have been facing the heat at this point. It’s time to take a serious look at our IT infrastructure and make amends.

Technology upgrades can save your business a lot of money. They will be the key to optimized business growth for years to come. Digital tools can optimize your business processes. Time delays due to repetitive tasks will reduce using technology. This is the time to set all that in action. Technology consultants can create a robust and scalable IT infrastructure. This will help kickstart your business growth sooner than expected. After all, it’s better than sitting alone and keep worrying about the unknown.

8. Multi-Channel. Why not?

Most businesses grow their business and are content with where they are. Then enters the lockdown. All hell breaks loose. Sales are touching zero and it’s not in your control. It’s going to be a challenge to move ahead and win in the business world again. The key to this is to go multi-channel. Businesses were already doing this before the lockdown. Some have succeeded in saving their business from complete closure. Some have tried new channels post the lockdown. Some have started gaining the much needed positive results.

Businesses need to adapt to digital channels. Preparing your digital sales strategies will be important. Try channels like Jetson.ai for voice sales. Cold emails are back in trend. Social media management has grown during this time. Businesses are reinventing their offerings. They are jumping into the essential services industries to keep the salaries going. Club your current offerings with at least 4-5 different channels. This provides more value for your customers.

9. Bonus: Embrace Your Human Side

The Coronavirus pandemic has made us realize the Human side of Business. It’s not about performance, productivity and sales. It’s a lot to do with the emotions, respect, trust and empathy. Businesses should bring back the human touch. Their people, customers and the world at large need to turn human-centric. It's time to bring empathy back into the business. Contributing to society is much needed at this point. This can be through free services and help to other businesses too. Not everyone is as fortunate as you are right now. The help makes us who we are.

Breeur suggests Design Thinking Now more than Ever Before

We can do a lot during this lockdown. It’s all about gearing up for business post lockdown and beyond. Everyone needs a positive outlook during these times. The encouragement needed is present. The time needed is present. The dedication is up to you. After all, you are the reason for your success. Let’s enjoy the journey and come out victorious.