Coronavirus and Your Business: What are the possible effects?
It’s been a crazy past week in the world with the situation of the coronavirus spiraling out of control.
In just a matter of weeks, the world economy has been turned upside down.
From stock markets dropping to record lows to entire countries getting shut down, there’s so much uncertainty and dread and people are beginning to ask: “Are we headed for another recession?
Well, only time will tell.
The Effects
As of right now, some countries are hot harder than others and the financial and economical ramifications look grim indeed.
While the terrible effects of this virus have not yet hit Africa in full force, it’s better to be prepared in case we do have to take drastic measures like some first world countries have had to.
It’s obvious that this will hit some businesses more than others.
So far, the only solution to reducing the spread of the virus has been to encourage social distance and discourage large gatherings of people as much as possible.
Countries in Africa have begun to roll out some of these protective and preventive measures and it might come to your country soon if it hasn’t already. The bottom line is to BE PREPARED.
In order to be prepared, these are a couple of things that might happen, and what you can do about it:
People forced to stay home from work except for critical jobs:
One way to mitigate this is to prepare your team and employees in case they have to work from home.
Are you prepared for that?
- What systems can you put in place to make that happen?
- What tools will you need to have?
- What roles are absolutely essential that cannot be carried out remotely
Having clarity before the fact will help you deploy a viable solution if the need arises in the coming weeks.
Here are a few tools that you can use if you’re considering enabling your team to work from home:
For communication and collaboration
For team meetings and daily check-ins
To manage projects and tasks
To monitor employees screen time during work hours
To manage customer communication
Movement is completely restricted.
If you have a physical store/business that depends on people coming in, this could be a problem.
What you can do right now is plan ahead and see how, if your customers can’t get to you, can you get to your customers?
- Can they find you online via your website or social media platforms?
(Recommended: How To Get Paying Customers On Social Media Using This Simple But Effective Social Media Strategy)
- Can they place orders online?
(Recommended: 30 Digital Marketing Tools You Should Use In 2020)
- Can you deliver to their homes?
If they can’t come to you, can you get to them? Get in touch with dispatch companies now in case you might need them in the near future.
People staying indoors means more people will be spending even more time on their devices and social media.
This is the best time to reach your customers where they are hanging out and educate them on your products and services.
If there was ever a time to be running Digital Ads, that time is now.
Whether you’ll get new customers depends entirely on what it is you sell, and what industry you’re in.
But it’s a great time for connecting with your potential customers and getting your brand to be more visible and seen by the right people.
Try to build a list and nurture that list. It’ll pay off for now.
Conclusion
One thing is for sure: This pandemic is going to change the way we do A LOT of things and how we operate our businesses is not exempted.
What are some other things you’re doing in your company to manage the situation?
