COVID small business survival tips

We all are feeling how quickly things are shifting. While it is tempting to be idle and ‘wait’ until this all blows over, there are a few things that we can be doing NOW in our small businesses to serve and create our own windows of opportunity.

I’m sure I am not the only one that felt optimistic and was off to a great start at the beginning of 2020, only to get what felt like the wind knocked out of me. I am choosing to be intentional with my perspective in the midst of the uncertain and uncontrollable.

While I hate the circumstance, my prayer is that we will have space and time to dream, grow, and adapt. Here are a few ideas and some things I have been doing in my business and that you can do right now.

Find Community

• Our creativity and mental health need to have safe spaces and outlets. Having 2 to 3 biz buddies to connect with regularly to ask questions, brainstorm, and plan can help combat feelings of overwhelm and isolation.

Update all the things

• Review your website, does it really speak to your ideal customers? Use your customers’ voice for the words on your website. Pay attention to how you can be more customer-centric in your copy instead of just self-promoting.
• Would you hire you if you were in their shoes? Are they able to get the sense that you care about them and their success and not just trying to make a sale?
• How can your site can be a resource to those who venture there. What ideas do you have for answering your audience’s questions/needs with your website?
• Revise and declutter. What information is not currently serving your audience? What is fluff and unnecessary for them to understand what you do and how you can help? Removing unnecessary distractions enables you to create a more focused message.
• Contracts protect you, your business, and your client. It keeps everybody honest as it a mutual agreement that you can always refer back to prevent misunderstandings. Do your research, seek counsel, and get these important documents together.

Consider new ways to deliver your product or service.

• In what ways does your business need to adapt to the current climate? Are there ways that you can create or improve your online presence to still deliver a high quality of service? In what ways can you add a personal touch to your pick up or delivery options.
• You can always ask your audience or previous customers what they would like to see from you or how you can serve them at this time. No one knows better than your audience about how they would like to experience your brand and what they are looking for from you.
• Pay attention to the trends in your industry. Stay up to date on new developments and how things are evolving in your space. You can also look at related industries to get creative ideas on how to fill a gap within your area.

Organize and automate

Success can sometimes hurt small businesses when systems aren’t in place. What things do you need to get together to prepare for your success? (a not so fun fact is that you might already be subconsciously self-sabotaging yourself because you don’t feel prepared for growth)

• Take some time to assess where the wholes and cracks are in your systems and processes? What things take you way longer than they should? How can you simplify things for you and your customers? Create a task list to chip away at these to fortify the foundation of your business.
• Having the right systems in place increases efficiency and confidence. Systems reduce decision fatigue when you have a flow and process for what comes next.
• Review the repeatable processes in your business and document them and central location for easy reference. My software of choice is Notion I’ll share more in a later post about my love for this program. In short, it is a flexible project management software that adjusts to the way you like to work. You can work within a template structure or build your own.

Build your skills

Now is a great time to learn new skills. Work on our mindset and build new growth habits.

• Many of the associations that host events for entrepreneurs have gone digital. General Assembly is currently offering free classes on topics from programming to project management and even Google Analytics every Friday.
• Spend time working on those more significant tasks that require more space and time to complete. You know the ones that you’ve been wanting to do forever but keep putting off.

To see my other top recommendations for things you can do for your business right now, download my free checklist below.

Rooting for you,

-Lauren

In the comments below, please feel free to share some things you’re doing to pivot during this time.