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Nobody expected this pandemic to happen, except maybe Bill Gates, the Chinese government and my uncle with the tin foil hat who doesn’t think the moon landings happened. But here we are now, and this is what we have to deal with.
It is a strange time for business, most of us feel like we need to do something, anything to save our businesses. But at the same time most of us can’t really do anything. Our goverments have closed most of our businesses and we have been forced to do an extended vacation. If you are essential, such as a pizza place then you are very fortunate.
But for all the doom and gloom there are two things you can do for your business today, which will help you succeed down the road.
The #1 to do for business during a pandemic
The first thing to do during a pandemic for a business is to do everything you need to do so your business will be there when the time to reopen comes again, it wont be hell.
This isn’t the first plague to hit humanity, nor will it be the last. But businesses over time have survived and thrived. Maybe not some hippie coffee shop that needs a lot of foot traffic, but banks, insurance companies and things like that will last long term will need to be reopened and as a business owner or manager it is your job to make sure it is done.
I can just imagine the amount of food resturants have rotting in their fridges, so to use a very bad metaphor.
“During this pandemic as a business person you must clean out the old food in your fridge”
Rich Cunningham – 2020 during the Pandemic virus.
When you come back to open up your restaurant, (your metaphorical restaurant that is.) You don’t want a fridge full of spoiled food waiting for you, you also don’t want piles of old garbage that have been rotting at your location for months laying around, or other things over your head, such as bills, expenses and bad customers. Get the dishes washed, the machinery oiled, the money counted.
You get the point, have everything ready for you to start over when businesses open back up. At the time of writing (April 2020) we don’t know when this will be.
But trust me you will be glad you don’t have a giant fridge of rotting food waiting for you when you get back to work.
The #2 most important thing to do for your business during a pandemic
Once you have the first thing done, it is time to move on to the #2 most important thing to do for your business during a pandemic.
Get Ready for the new normal, its going to suck!
Rich Cunningham, 2020
Things are not going to be the same, at least for awhile. What are you going to have to change for your business for it to be able to function in this new business environment?
Every business is different of course, but their are a few questions that pop in my mind that every business person should ask themselves.
- What safety procedures do you need to keep you, your customers and your employees safe? Changing hours? Moving the office around? Split shifts? A giant plastic bubble? Now is the time to decide what needs to be changed to keep your business going during the post pandemic era of business.
- Are you going to have to change what your business offers to stay in business? Maybe selling coffee and hippie flowers isn’t going to cut it anymore. What else can you offer that people still need?
- How is business volume going to be effected? Are you going to have more customers or less customers once this whole thing is over? Are you going to need to reduce staff? Time to decide.
- Do you need to buy or install anything special so your business can open? Do you need to install fancy plexiglass things over your cash out areas? Seems like it would be a good time to order and install them before you open. Are you going to need more cleaning solutions from your suppliers?
You are the expert on your business, Only you know what you need to open back up.
If you are really stuck post a comment and I will give you some ideas in a future blog.
But now is the time to decide while you got time to deal with once you are allowed to reopen again.
Get to it Friends.
Best wishes,
Richard Cunningham.