Coronavirus pandemic is causing irreparable damage around the world. The death toll is rising, and the number of infected people is also increasing every day. It affects every aspect of life. Many companies are forced to shut down their business, and many are facing massive losses.
This is the riskiest time for small business owners. They have to do three crucial jobs to survive- minimize risk, protect employees, and support their customers. Here are some guidelines to protect your business in the time of corona.
Establish a Work from Home Option
With the pandemic at the door, everything is shutting down. Government offices, schools, shopping malls, and almost everything are closed now. So, working from home could be your only option. But how are you going to do that?
You are going to need a solid coordination plan to establish a home from work arrangement. You need to make sure that everyone understands the protocol.
Minimize Meeting and Travel
When there is an urgency for a group meeting, you need to be extra careful. Remember that, Covid19 is a highly contagious virus. It can spread through human contact, touching any object, sneezing, coughing, etc. So, when you need a meeting that can’t be avoided, try to make some rigid guidelines. The steps and instructions should be like this-
- Provide everyone protective equipment and instruct them to wear.
- Instruct them to maintain social distancing.
- Keep the member number as small as possible.
- If possible, do the most possible meeting on video conferencing.
If your company is involved in delivery service, you have to take more precautionary steps-
- Provide everyone standard PPE(Personal protective equipment).
- Give them proper instruction on how to deliver safely in the corona pandemic.
- Give some encouraging messages to your customers through them.
- Assure benefits and full protection during their travel.
- Assure medical assistance if the employees think they need it.
Assure Employees Flexibility
You have to face that the coronavirus pandemic is not a safe time to go out. Some employment issues will arise from the corona outbreak. Many employees may refuse to go out to work. You shouldn’t force anyone to continue work if the person doesn’t think it’s safe to work. All you can do to provide them more security and flexible work time.
Keep Transparency to Your Customer
As the virus is highly contagious, people will have serious trust issues. They will be very sensitive about everything, and they have every reason to be like that. Your job is to maintain a hundred percent transparency to your customers. Arrange a 24 service contact service. Make sure that they can reach you anytime. Once you gain your customers’ trust, your job will be easy.
No Compromise with Hygiene in Corona Pandemic
You have to maintain precautions to prevent virus infection. That’s why some guidelines to follow-
- Rest the handshake culture for a while. Use other forms of greetings.
- Make it compulsory to wash everyone’s hands during entry and exit.
- Encourage everyone to wash their hands more frequently.
- Instruct everyone to avoid doing things that increase the chance of getting infected like touching your face, touching any objects, etc.
- Make sure that your cleaning service is working to its full capacity.
Adopt an Online Sell Strategy
Nowadays, many companies are opening their online sell. It is a new trend. You may think of it or already are doing it. So, you need to focus more on online sell strategy. As almost everyone remains at home, there are more people online than ever. So, you can reach your customers online.
Consider Business Income Insurance
You have to prepare yourself if your business faces massive losses during the coronavirus outbreak. You may consider business income insurance or business interruption insurance. You should ask your broker insurance about business interruption insurance to cover for the outbreak and see if you qualify for coverage.
A Long term Plan
Nobody knows how long the corona pandemic will last. This is the time to think of the future. The corona may permanently change our business policy and other aspects of life. Those who can cope with the changed situation will become more successful. So, consult with your financial advisor, manager, and employees and make a long term plan for the company.
Final Thought
Like many other businesses, your business may be affected severely by the coronavirus pandemic. But you shouldn’t feel panicked about it. If you can think calmly and give your maximum effort, you can survive and, in some cases, even thrive in this disaster. Remember that it is not the time to focus only on just gaining profit. It is time to give support and comfort to your customers and employees too.
