Emergings prepared with a plan in a post-pandemic economy
It’s April 2020 and when I wake up and start my day there are always questions nagging in my head. What the heck will my business look like three months from now or even six months from now? Will I still have a business to run or will the way I make a living cease to exist and I’ll end up doing something completely different?
It’s hard to know what state my business will be in a month from now, let alone three months from now. Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball that will predict the future for me or anyone else I know.
One thing I do know for sure is that things will never go back to the way they were four months ago. If you are one of those people waiting for the ‘old economy’ to return or recover, then you are in for a rude awakening, because it is not going to happen.
I guess most people don’t want to entertain the idea that they could be out of business in a matter of months. Hell, it’s not something I wanted to think about either. Being put out of business by an invisible predator that has swept across the globe and disrupted people’s lives and the global economy seems simply unfathomable.
As my husband and I looked at what was happening within our own country and around the world and the impact it was having on our businesses, we made a financial assessment of how long we could sustain our current standard of living. For some reason, it felt good knowing that we could hit a certain period within the year. It never occurred to me that I was not allowing myself to think about what would happen if did running out of savings
My husband, on the other hand, had thought about it. Hearing him verbalize his action plan ‘before we get to that point’ forced me to finally go to that place in my mind where I needed to have an internal conversation, ‘what if I couldn’t sustain my business anymore?’
The AHA moment
When I finally ‘went there’ I had a great AHA moment. I suddenly realized something that had never occurred to me before. The voice in my head said, “Pam, you’ve been here before!”
Oh my gosh, yes that’s right, I’ve been here before. I have had to unexpectedly close a business due to circumstances beyond my control: an economic crisis.
It was 18 years ago. She ran a women’s fashion retail store in a major shopping mall in Singapore. The store was in operation for the better part of 3 years, and only one year at the mall location. Business was good. That was until the ’99 Asian financial crisis hit us.
My clientele used to be female expatriates along with residents and tourists. As we move into the year 2000, we witnessed the decline in the daily number of shoppers. People started holding on to their money due to the uncertainties ahead. Very similar to what we are experiencing today.
Eventually, it reached a point where there was not enough business to cover the monthly overhead and the difficult decision was made to close the store. However, it was not as simple as closing the doors. Although the owners were able to see for themselves that there was no foot traffic for all the tenants, they still demanded to be paid for the remaining months of the lease. That resulted in a painfully written check for $40,000 for the owner. Making that payment only added insult to what was already a very difficult time having to close due to an economic crisis.
When the venue was empty and the doors closed, I allowed myself to have a private pity party. I gave myself permission to feel sorry for myself for two weeks. When the pity party ended, I knew it was time to get off the ground and get busy contemplating what the next plan of action would be.
Even through my despair, I was confident that there would be another business in my future and I would have to be primed and ready to pivot.
Remembering that I have been here before and knowing that I had the resilience to recover and come out on the other side, ensures that I can do this again if I have to.
Every company or business owner will need to figure out what is best for them post-pandemic. Maybe you haven’t even started thinking that far. Maybe you have, but you still have no idea what you will do when we all re-emerge in this new c-economy (covid-economy).
Instead of waiting for circumstances to dictate what will happen a month or three from now, I see myself as a surfer who needs to be out in the blue ocean, judging, calculating, waiting for the right wave to jump and ride. through the barrel until you reach the beach.
This time I’ll be ready to ride the wave instead of finding myself being thrown by the waves and not knowing which way is up.
Preparing for the C economy
No one will be able to say for sure when countries, states, and communities will open their doors for business, but it’s important to be prepared with a plan of action.
Here are some thoughts for business owners and business leaders to consider right now in preparation for the resurrection of their business.
Establish the relevance of the product-service
There are some vital questions you need to address before you start creating your recovery roadmap.
Is my product or service still relevant to my target market today and will it be relevant after the pandemic? Will the target audience stay the same or will it change completely?
If my target audience remains the same, albeit with minor changes, I’ll continue on with my recovery roadmap.
Anticipate, ask and answer
Read the latest research findings in your industry, along with reports from economists. As business operators, we must research the market and anticipate consumer wants and needs to provide appropriate solutions.
Creating ideal solutions for consumers cannot happen while brainstorming in isolation. Ask your customers what they will need in a post-pandemic business environment.
Armed with research and the needs of the target market, respond to their requests and deliver your best solution that addresses those immediate needs. This may require the development of a completely new product or service.
Duplicate low-cost and no-cost marketing activities
The global health and economic crisis has left millions of businesses without revenue for months, so the last thing most would want to do is shell out large sums of cash for marketing campaigns.
However, that doesn’t mean a business should go underground and not trade at all. Otherwise. There are things any business can do to continue to market its products and services using low-cost or no-cost marketing activities.
- Create content. No one knows your business better than you (and your employees if you work for a large organization). Start by creating content that educates and helps your target audience. Your content can be distributed in many ways.
- Write blog posts and upload them to your website, social media pages, and syndicated sites.
- Take a survey related to your industry and then distribute your findings to your target audience if it will help your business.
- Use free creative sites like Canva to create visual content like banners, posters, social posts, animated posts, etc.
- Use the free tools to create educational infographics.
- Create short videos that educate, motivate, or demonstrate a product. Everyone has a camera on their smartphone, so pick it up and hit the record button. There is no excuse not to do it.
Seek synergistic collaboration
One of the benefits of all the chaos we are going through is the change we are seeing in humanity. The economy of giving is on the rise and with good reason. You are more valuable to your customers when you offer them more than they need.
Seek collaboration with business partners who can add value to your customer base. What can others bring to the table that is beneficial to your clientele that is not in direct competition with you, but creates synergy for both businesses?
Reaching out to other corporations and business owners will stimulate the economy and create a three-way win.
Learn and go digital
The way business is conducted today has already changed. Operating efficiently in the new electronic economy will require the use of more technology and applications to conduct business remotely with clients and team members.
Businesses that previously offered their services in person will have to adapt to digital platforms in the new normality. This form of communication once thought to be “nice to try” has moved into the realm of a legitimate way of doing business.
Not only will the need to learn new technologies for virtual engagement arise, the need to know how to protect our privacy will also require us to spend some time understanding cyber security.
There will be a learning curve, but if you don’t dive in and embrace the new wave of technology that has now become part of our everyday lives, it will mean that those unwilling to learn will be left behind.
Repurpose to create additional income streams
As a veteran small business owner, I am a big advocate of having multiple sources of income. Every time I develop a new brand, I plan the various ways I can sell my services at different prices and through different distribution channels.
Having more than one stream of income is something I urge small business owners to start with when crafting their business model from the ground up.
See your business with new eyes. At the start of your business, the product or service you offer may have been created for a specific target audience. Can what you offer now be reused for another audience or market niche?
Case in point. I have a deck of cards on entrepreneurship that was derived from the action steps in the chapter of my book, The 50-60 Something™ Start-up Entrepreneur. The deck of cards was a derivative of the book and became another way to repurpose information and generate additional income.
Since the information on building a business is the same, I am now able to repurpose the deck of cards with a new brand, a new design, and sell this to a completely different market.
Is there a part of your business that can be divided to create a new product in another industry? What could be reused or even upgraded within your own business to create a new revenue stream?
surfing the wave
A great wave of change is on the horizon for all of us. It’s going to come in the form of a recession or possibly a depression. I am preparing now. I want to be ready when the wave of opportunity rolls my way. I hope others will join me in this blue ocean and we can ride this wave together.
