Regardless of what you believe about the coronavirus pandemic, the volatility of today’s economy should put you in a panic mode. We are not prepared for a pandemic. No country in the world was prepared for the pandemic. There has never been anything as catastrophic to the economy as the pandemic. Everything stopped. Everything you know about retail, marketing, advertising, and manufacturing has to be thrown out of the window. It is not business as usual when the lives of people are at stake and when economies are in shambles.
But that does not mean that your business is doomed. Of course, if you retarget your marketing strategies and reinvent your business, you can still keep up with the times. You can still answer the demands of the market. That’s what you should know—whether or not your ability to grow your business is under threat. If it is not, then you have a golden opportunity to build your business even amid a pandemic.
How Much Do You Believe in Your Business?
It is essential to believe that you have the kind of business that your customers will continue supporting during and, especially, after a pandemic. A restaurant may have to wait it out for a few months before business comes back again. Retail stores will also suffer during this time. You have to face the truth regarding your business: will customers come back once the economy picks up again?
It’s not about how you think your business stands right now, but it’s about how your business will be in the future. If you don’t see a future for your business, it wouldn’t matter what you do right now. The business will never get off to a good start because the owner himself does not believe in it. So, first and foremost, before you think about expanding your business right now, believe that it is worth a try.
Reinventing and Expanding
Sometimes, you do have to face your demons as an entrepreneur. You cannot force your business to work if it does not answer your market’s needs anymore. At the very least, you have to reinvent what you’re offering your audience. If your finances cannot carry your business over to the new normal, it’s time to think about applying for a small business loan. But before you do that, make sure you have a concrete plan, so your risk of a loan is not going to waste.
If you are to reinvent your business, identify what you have in the business right now and how you can use them to manufacture new products and offer new services. For example, at the height of the coronavirus outbreak, clothing manufacturers started producing facial masks while perfume brands started manufacturing sanitizers and alcohol. This is the kind of innovativeness and resourcefulness that enabled these companies to survive a massive economic downturn.
Let Your Customers Know About the Plan
You have to let your customers in on the plan that you will change the direction of the company. They have to know what to expect from you during and after the pandemic. Are you going to go back to your original business? Or, are you going to change directions completely? The customers need to have a sense of where you are and where you are going as a company. This information will help them understand what they need to do to continue supporting your business.
Collaborate with Social Media Influencers
The new normal will be unimaginably different for businesses, especially those that expanded and changed their tracks. That’s why businesses have to partner with social media influencers with at least 10,000 followers. You can choose to either pay the influencer, sponsor one of their advocacies, or join them in a giveaway. The point is that these influencers will remarket your business. They will reach out to new and old audiences and open new avenues for your improved and expanded business operations.
Taking that risk to expand your business is not an easy thing to do. After all, there is a lot to lose when your expansion plans did not come to fruition. So, don’t get into it blindly. Don’t dive into it without having a clear vision of where your business is going. It is one thing for your business to have a difficult time during a global health crisis. Still, it’s an entirely different thing for you to make the wrong decision in the middle of an already impossible situation.