ChicExecs Co-Founder and Co-President Nikki Carlson shares how to navigate your company during difficult times on Forbes blog. Enjoy this highlight with key points from the article.
As we’ve seen from the recent fallout of COVID-19, small businesses are at the mercy of the global economy. Business might be great one day, and in the span of 24 hours, you could lose your entire customer base due to catastrophe.
Follow these five tips to stay afloat during difficult times and build a brand that lasts.
1. Look for opportunity.
If you’ve lost your livelihood overnight, it’s understandable to feel scared, mad and confused. But don’t dwell too long on what’s going wrong: Now is the time to focus on solutions.
There’s always opportunity in the market if you know where to look. The best place to start is with your customers. What do they need right now? What’s keeping them up at night?
2. Pivot your product.
Maybe this difficult situation has made you realize your products just aren’t relevant anymore. This is your chance to try something new. What worked before the hard times clearly isn’t working right now.
What can you do to make your business bulletproof? Maybe this means diversifying your income streams, or getting into digital products instead of physical ones. Or, maybe you start offering a paid service to complement your products.
3. Tackle nagging tasks.
If it doesn’t make sense to pivot your brand, you might feel stuck for the time being. If you have a small team, low costs and a healthy savings account, it may be best for you to ride out the storm.
So, what should you do in the meantime?
Take advantage of your free time by tackling the important but low-priority tasks you’ve been pushing off. Maybe that means:
• Redesigning your website. Learn how to code for free on Codeacademy and make the changes yourself.
• Starting a blog. Try writing a handful of posts and scheduling them on your website.
• Scheduling a month’s worth of social media posts with Hootsuite.
• Reevaluating your marketing campaigns. What’s been working? What do you want to try?
4. Give back.
In the event of an economic downturn, your business is hurting, but you aren’t alone. Charities, other businesses and people are also hurting. If you have the resources, use this as your opportunity to give back.
5. Connect with other business owners.
Entrepreneurship isn’t an island. You need to lean on other business owners who are in the same boat. When you surround yourself with other positive, motivated business owners, you can tackle trying times with a heartier attitude that gets results.
Read Nikki’s blog in its entirety here.
