The year 2020 has been pretty shitty so far. The novel coronavirus has shut down the world economy since March, while the effects of this virus on people has been on-going since December 2019. No one ever imagined that a virus could cripple the modern world and economy so badly that all industry would shut down and more than half of the businesses would shut their doors forever.
The move to close down the economy was necessary for saving lives. But it also dwindled the economy. A lot of businesses shut down or let go of half of their employees. However, the world economy is re-starting. In India, too since June, we are in the unlock phase, and most industries are opening up.
It calls for re-assessment of your financial and marketing strategies to rebuild your business. It is similar to building your brand from scratch for some companies, so here are a few tips for you to restart this journey.
1. Assess the financial damage that COVID-19 did
The first step towards building your business again is to assess the damage that COVID-19 did to your business. When you are assessing this, don’t only focus on the hard numbers, factor into all things.
- Make sure you assess your profit and loss sheet, look at your cash flow numbers, and balance sheet and compare it to the figures of last year. It will tell you how much you lost this year.
- Next, if you laid off some of your staff, make sure you factor that in your recovery strategy.
- Lastly, check your advertisement costs, if you have cut back on them, factor that in as well. If you have lost trusted customers or clients, and more.
2. Work on new channels for sales
One thing that coronavirus taught all businesses is that having multiple and flexible marketing channels is important if you want to increase your sales number. For instance, local businesses and essential services suffer a lot as they promote their business through customers, who come to their location. But due to lockdown in effect, that decreases leading them to suffer. So, all brands must come up with alternative sales channels, like online marketing.
They can make use of social media channels to promote their business and let people know that they are still working hard to provide people with their essentials. All businesses should focus now on enhancing their social media marketing strategies by optimizing their profiles, using Canva to create appealing visuals, and more.
Also, take a hint from the food industry who partnered up with delivery companies. It aided them in making sales even when their restaurants were not operating.
3. Take a hard look at your business plan
The business plan that you have with you may not work for you post-COVID or during COVID times. That is why you need to look hard and try to come up with a more sustainable business plan. Here are some things you need to consider:
- Your sales channel, as mentioned above.
- Setting up more realistic business goals which align with the current situation.
- Lowering your manufacturing costs or more.
All these will help you re-start your business and push into a position where you can make a profit. For the same, you have to follow the first step first thought
4. Prepare for other surprises or crisis
The year 2020 has been full of surprises. From corona to hurricanes to other world crises going on, a lot of them impacted the business, with COVID-19 taking the lead. Now, we have to optimistic about the future, but that doesn’t mean that you stay stupid as well. Such situations or any other crisis can come up at any time, and every business needs to have a contingency plan for the same.
You need to invest in a plan that can help you financially if you happened to be in such a crisis again.
5. Figure out your funding need
I don’t think anyone has cash stacked up to re-start a business that requires tons of capital. So, if you are in need of funds, there are quite many options. Thus, check your financial needs and find a source that suits you perfectly.
