5 Tips for Service Businesses in the Wake of Coronavirus

by Startacus Admin

Most business owners had big goals for 2020 before coronavirus happened and turned things upside down. The world pandemic has had a huge impact on people’s lives and the economy. Many businesses have had to close down or minimise operations in efforts to slow down the spread. Hopefully, with such efforts, the curve will flatten, and it will be business as usual again in a few months. But until then, how do you survive as a business owner with minimal or no business at all? Consider the following tips...

Safety Comes First

As a business owner, putting safety first will keep you and others from contracting the infection and possibly losing your life. You can always set new goals to revive a business, but a lost life cannot be revived. Thus, no matter how hard life is for you financially, don’t risk your life or the lives of your employees.

Protect yourself, your family, and your employees. This means keeping your hands clean, having a distance between you and others, and staying home. Advise your employees to do the same. You can go over the safety tips and warning signs to look out for as a team.

Support Your Employees

Working from home is a new thing for many employees. Thus, if you have employees who will keep working online, give them the right support. You can do this by helping them set up home offices and ensuring they have the right hardware and software to get work done from home. Also, planning for the future and a post coronavirus landscape, this could be the right time to invest in software that will help coordinate and keep track of work done remotely without being office based. You can check out startups like Sagenine that offer customised packages based on individual needs.

Stay in Touch With the Customers

If even you are not offering any services at the moment, it is still important to keep in touch with your customers. Start by solving any customer concerns you may have pending. Whether it is an unanswered email or a negative comment on social media that needs a reply, tackle them all. Next, think about posting regularly on social media, sending an email once in a while and publishing new posts on your blog to educate your clients. When you stay in touch with customers, they are less likely to forget your business, regardless of how long you stay without meeting them.

Get New Customers

Other than keeping in touch with your existing customers, you can use the lockdown period to get new ones. Come up with marketing strategies that will create awareness with potential customers. Examples of ways you can do this include working on your SEO to rank for more keywords, holding social media contests that involve getting participants to share your content, building your email list, and nurturing leads and creating informative and fun infographics and videos that others can share. 

Working on a Come Back Strategy

Do you have a strategy for when it is finally safe to come out and shake hands? Start working on a comeback strategy focusing on factors such as how you will serve your customers better, how to cut costs, team efficiency, and new or improved business ideas. You can start marketing your new ideas or packages as soon as you identify and evaluate them.

Finally, consider new ways to earn as you stay home. Since your business isn’t bringing in money as it used to, look for new streams of income. Do you have a skill that you can sell online? If you are an expert in something, you can do some online coaching or paid tutorials. You can also think about writing guides and selling them online. Affiliate marketing is also another way to earn and the good thing is that you can put affiliate links on your business website and social media pages. Consider a monetized YouTube Channel as well.

 

 

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Published on: 6th April 2020