Mistakes to Avoid When Reopening Your Business
As the economy begins to open back up, business owners need to remember that the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over. Companies must approach reopening carefully and be prepared to make tough decisions about how to operate going forward.
Cash tied up in long-term leases, time spent managing non-core activities, ignoring customer retention… the list of mistakes your small business can stumble into is extensive, and the stakes are higher than ever.
Here are six common mistakes a company can make right now, plus actionable tips on how to prevent and solve them.
1. Not focusing on safety
The safety of your employees should be the number one priority when reopening. For tips on how to protect your team, be sure to read this helpful article: How to (Safely) Get Your Employees Back to Work.
2. Keeping a long-term office lease
Cash flow is critical, especially during uncertain economic times. One of the easiest ways to cut costs is to re-think your office lease.
For many companies, work-from-home is here to stay. On-demand office space is an affordable and flexible alternative that gives businesses like yours access to the best of both worlds.
3. Being inflexible
If you want to succeed in these turbulent times, you need to be flexible. There are plenty of ways to accomplish this, like allowing employees to continue working from home.
There are other solutions, too. For example, Intelligent Office provides more than workspace solutions. We also support companies with customer care and administrative services that allow modern businesses to thrive in the new normal.
4. Not focusing on customer service and retention
When profits dwindle, it’s natural to want to find as many new customers as possible. This strategy can work, but small businesses must also remember that new customer acquisition is costly (and sometimes, complicated.)
That’s why it’s so important to focus on customer retention. Customers are platinum and retaining them is critical to the continued success of your business.
5. Eliminating your marketing efforts entirely
When times get tough, it’s tempting to slash your marketing budget to zero. While you may not spend as much on marketing now as you did in the past, that doesn’t mean you should eliminate all marketing campaigns.
For starters, if your company is currently open for business (or if you sell an in-demand product or service) you want to get the word out. Your marketing efforts might look a bit different now that people are spending more time at home, so don’t be afraid to get creative.
For example, tools like social media marketing can be an effective and affordable way to reach your target audience. You could also update your company’s blog with relevant information, then share the posts with your email newsletter subscribers.
6. Treating the pandemic like a vacation
There are so many ways to work on your business during the pandemic, even if foot traffic is low and sales are down. This isn’t a vacation, so try to remain productive. If you aren’t sure how to use this time productively, you could:
- Revamp staff training.
- Brainstorm new products and services to offer.
- Complete a new certification.
- Catch up on taxes and bookkeeping.
- Expand your professional network and make new connections.
There are so many ways to make the most of this time. And if you’re proactive, you’ll be able to keep your business and it’s team healthy while the economy rebounds.
