The COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses of all sizes to temporarily close or operate from remote locations, which significantly affected the nation’s economy. But with businesses cautiously reopening to help boost the economy, you can find opportunities to rebuild your business. Here are some tips for consideration:
1. Assess the damage
Take into account the damage the pandemic has caused your organization. If you haven’t updated your financial statements recently, do so now. Identify your losses, liabilities, assets, cash accounts, and investments, and compare them to last year’s numbers to assess the financial damage.
Aside from finances, check other aspects of your business where you had some losses. Did you lay off employees? If yes, how many? Have your customers flocked to the competition? Did you cut costs in some departments? Answering these questions will give you a clearer picture of how hard your business was hit, and what you need to do to bounce back.
2. Reorganize your business plans and finances
After assessing the damage, it’s time to start making new plans. While your old business plan may have worked pre-pandemic, you may need to reassess your priorities, strategies, and implementation plans to adapt to the new normal.
When analyzing your business plan, identify your strengths and weaknesses. Spot aspects that may not work as well as they used to, and those you can be more competitive in.
For instance, restaurants can partner with food delivery services to reach customers who may still be hesitant to dine out. Brick-and-mortar retailers, meanwhile, can leverage online platforms and courier services to get their products to consumers.
If you didn’t have an IT team before the pandemic, you can partner with managed IT services providers such as Fidelis as part of your reorganization plans. Not only can we proactively maintain your IT infrastructure to prevent downtime, but we can also act as your remote in-house IT team. The best part? Our services cost less than paying a full-time staff.
3. Inform former employees
If you laid off some of your employees because of the pandemic’s effect on your business, inform them about your reorganization plans. They would be encouraged by the fact that you may re-employ them, especially after many Seattleites sought unemployment compensation through the Employment Security Department.
Not only is re-employing former employees cheaper, but it ensures your staff is already knowledgeable about your business processes. This saves you a lot of time and effort compared to starting over with new hires.
4. Ensure workplace safety
Protection from the coronavirus should be a top priority for your employees, so ensure their safety when they return to work. Enforce social distancing to avoid the possible spread of the disease, and provide the necessary equipment such as face shields and masks, and hand sanitizer. Make sure to factor in health expenses in your future business plans.
5. Inform your customers
Even if consumer habits may have changed due to the pandemic, people are still looking forward to the easing of lockdown restrictions. Make sure your customers know your plans to reopen your business and ask for their support. You can even offer perks to those who patronize your store to ensure maximum profit.
6. Plan ahead for the next crisis
No business was fully prepared for the coronavirus pandemic. But if there’s one lesson to be learned, it’s that companies always have to prepare for the worst. You never know when another pandemic will come and how much it can damage your business, so it’s best to plan ahead.
Stock up on liquid savings so your assets can quickly be converted into cash whenever you need it. Reduce the number of work tools your employees use to improve business processes. Lastly, embrace new technological developments such as cloud computing, virtualization, and remote working to ensure that your business can adapt to any event that may affect your operations.
Don’t let a disaster like the COVID-19 pandemic bring your company to its knees. Partner with a reliable managed IT services provider like Fidelis. We will protect and preserve your data so your business can get back up and running as quickly as possible. To learn more about how we can improve your backup and disaster recovery plan, download our FREE eBook today.
