Many businesses face an uncertain future as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Even businesses that could relocate their activities and services online temporarily have found it difficult to face the new challenges. Simple checks and activities that wouldn’t have been any cause for thought before the lockdown are now an insurmountable obstacle.
Can you offer next day delivery?
Can you help vulnerable clients assemble their products?
What are your staffed hours?
The list of processes that have been interrupted and discontinued during the pandemic is long. But for all businesses, the conclusion remains the same: You’re losing money. As the lockdown restriction and safety protocols are easing all around the world, companies need to be smart to recoup their losses without putting their brand, team, or customers at risk. You are walking a thin line to reduce losses and increase gains in the wake of a health crisis. Unfortunately, many companies can’t afford to postpone their business growth efforts any longer. If you don’t act now, you may have to shut down permanently. Here are some things you want to consider when planning off to bounce back in a post-crisis world.
Everybody has been affected by the pandemic. Businesses and consumers are both finding it hard to maintain their financial stability. In other words, as markets reopen, it doesn’t mean that there will be an immediate flux of money. Some of your most loyal clients may still need your services, but they will require sensible payment plans in a post-pandemic world. Businesses are urged to be reasonable when it comes to debt collection disputes and practices. Business litigation lawyers, Fleeson Gooing, warn against eager legal actions. As the economic situation remains unstable, it can be more beneficial for businesses to proceed with negotiated payment plans and fair negotiations. These could enable clients, B2B and B2C, to honor their debts while taking steps to avoid cost- and time-demanding disputes.
Upskill your staff to offer more
Your team may be ready to head back to the office, but it is unlikely that work can carry on as if nothing had happened. Businesses have to focus on strategies to reduce additional costs, such as outsourcing or contracting. Providing employee training to help strengthen skills and develop new services can fill a market gap. It’s also important to remember that needs have evolved in self-isolation. People who would have usually bought in-store are happy to use video calls for advice from a sales rep, for instance. Is your team trained to provide effective video call communication? Businesses need to identify the areas that would be the most relevant for their customers to maximize gains.
Additionally, upskilling your staff also helps keep talent in house, as individuals can move their careers forward. Many employees will be worried about going back to their workplace. Providing training that supports customers in self-isolation and remote work processes can also bring reassurance.
Don’t discontinue remote work
As mentioned above, your team may not be enthusiastic at the thought of coming back to the office. Many employees are worried about using public transport and coming in contact with the COVID-19 virus. Others are unsure that their workplace has taken the right approach to maintain their safety. In other words, your team could be reluctant to come back. Allowing your staff to carry on remote work after the pandemic can help maintain productivity. Indeed, almost 6 in 10 small business owners believe that remote work will carry on post COVID-19. It’s easy to understand why: The position provides safety and control to employees. Furthermore, employees have been the first to demonstrate they can be productive, effective, and available when they are not in the office. Discontinuing remote work arrangements could lead to uproar and high turnover rates.
Many businesses can’t face the financial challenges of the pandemic. More often than not, there is support available that could help companies go through the worst. Let’s be clear about it: Nobody is going to profit during the health crisis. But, funding options that ensure the survival of many small companies that would, otherwise, not have made it through. Small businesses will be detrimental to rebuilding the economy. As such, it’s imperative they consider all the funding solutions for their predicament. Pioneers Post has created a list of funds available for worldwide, global south, Europe, and UK support. Even Facebook is offering cash grants to small businesses that are facing disruptions. It’s worth ensuring you haven’t missed any potential funding for your company. Every dollar counts!
Cut down on cost you can’t afford
Will businesses be able to open their doors and hit the road running after the pandemic? The answer is no. Many will need to make tough decisions to guarantee the survival of their brand. Letting go of some employees is likely to be necessary, even though no company wants to reduce the team. Sometimes, cutting down salaries, especially for the high-earning roles, could provide sufficient funds to maintain the whole teaù or most of the team onboard. Here again, it is going to be a tough discussion with the relevant employees. Not everyone is happy to work on lower pay. Finally, future investments that would have otherwise been part of the growth strategy could be temporarily paused.
Don’t take it on your customers
As tempting as it might be to increase your prices in an effort to make up for the losses, it is likely to backfire. Customers’ finances have been affected by the pandemic just as much as businesses have. Ideally, companies should approach their customers with compassionate measures, such as keeping prices as low as possible without losing money, relaxing return guidelines, and offering extensive remote support. It’s part of a smart exchange of wealth for the community economy. Helping customers help businesses is detrimental to rebuilding market stability in a post-pandemic world.
Will every business survive the pandemic? Figures suggest that many small companies are unlikely to recover from the crisis. Those that can reopen may not be profitable for another few years. However, while the process to bounce back after the COVID-19 disaster will be long, it is also the only way forward for global economies. Small businesses hold the key to rebuilding wealth in communities.
Reputation is so important in business because consumers have certain expectations of the companies that they deal with. If you are seen to be a bad employer or your business is not very eco-friendly, for example, many people will not buy your products. People are also not likely to buy products from a company if you are seen to be supporting an issue that they don’t agree with. That’s why it’s so important that you spend time building a good reputation, but sometimes, that’s a lot harder than it sounds.
There are a lot of mistakes that can seriously harm your reputation and if you are not aware of them, your business will struggle. These are some of the things that can destroy the reputation of a business overnight.
Data Loss
Data loss is one of the biggest issues that you can face where reputation is concerned. When a customer buys a product from you, they are trusting you with sensitive information, like their name, address and credit card information. If you are the victim of a cyber attack and that information is compromised, people will quickly lose trust in you because they will assume that you did not do enough to protect their data. That’s why it’s so important that you work with a good network security company (like this one at www.intouchit.com) so you can ensure that your data is as secure as possible. Large scale data loss can lead to a lot of financial issues for your business and damage your reputation, so it’s vital that you make data security a priority.
Slanderous Allegations
Even if your business does everything above board and treats your customers well, there is always the chance that somebody will make slanderous allegations about your business. Unfortunately, in the age of social media, these accusations can spread like wildfire and even if they are not true, people will not always check the facts, so your reputation will be tarnished. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important that you protect yourself by seeking legal advice and taking action against the people that are making the allegations.
Workplace Discrimination and Bullying
As an employer, it is your job to ensure that you create a safe working environment for all of your employees. If there is a problem with workplace discrimination or bullying and you don’t deal with it effectively, the public will see you as a business that condones that kind of behavior and that can seriously damage your reputation. It’s vital that you take a zero tolerance approach to this, and make sure that you have systems in place so your employees can report people if they feel uncomfortable with the way that they are being treated. If you are unsure how to spot discrimination and deal with it, visit www.allbusiness.com for some tips.
Poor Health and Safety
Health and safety violations are another common issue that can harm your reputation. If you are not willing to spend money to ensure that the workplace is safe, that suggests that you are more concerned with profits than you are with the safety of your staff, and that’s a big problem. You may also be subject to fines if you break health and safety regulations, so make sure that you are always up to date.
When your business reputation is damaged, it’s very hard to come back from, so you need to avoid these common issues.
If you’re the kind of person who loves to stay in shape and spends a lot of their time thinking about their diet and workout routine, you might feel as though you want to be able to share that passion and knowledge with the world. Of course, no one wasn’t to give their expertise up for nothing, so if you were going to do that, you’d want to get paid for it, right? Well, the good news for you is that there’s a pretty simple way to do just that: become a personal trainer! Personal trainers are able to help other people achieve their fitness goals and reach their full potential. Of course, becoming a personal trainer is no easy task. Here are some things that you need to start sharing your passion for fitness with the world.
Qualifications
You can’t just decide that you’re going to be a personal trainer and that’s that. You’re going to have other people’s health and well-being in your hands, which means that you need to have all of the right skills and knowledge to help them reach their goals. Because of that, there are particular qualifications that you need to be able to work as a personal trainer. If this is your career goals, it’s a good idea to start working towards them right now. This is something that can take time, but this is one step that you really cannot skip. For one thing, clients are far more likely to trust your abilities if they can see that you are fully qualified.
A unique selling point
There is no shortage of people out there looking to make a career as a personal trainer. This means that you have to figure out as many ways as possible to make yourself stand out from the crowd. There are plenty of ways that you can do this but one of the best starting points is to try and make sure that you have something that makes your service unique. This could be something as simple as focusing your SEO on the specific location where you work, or it could be trying to offer something that you feel as though your competitors aren’t offering, like online training sessions, or the ability to be more flexible around the needs of your clients. The truth is that you need a unique selling point in any business and personal training is no exception to that rule.
Networking skills
If you’re going to be a personal trainer, then you need to be able to network effectively. The reality of your day to day life as a personal trainer is that you’re going to be talking to and working with people on a near-constant basis. You need to be able to engage with them one-on-one in a way that creates a bond of trust between the two of you in order to be as effective in helping them reach their goals as possible. Networking is an essential part of running any business but for something as face-to-face as personal training, it’s something that you simply cannot afford to ignore if you want to succeed.
The modern world that we live in is pretty much entirely dominated by the internet. Because of that, you need to have a website to connect with your customers. However, it’s not just a matter of having a website; you need to have the website possible if you really want to find the customers that you want. If your website is badly designed and difficult to navigate then people are going to click off immediately, assuming that you’re going to be just as amateurish. You need a website that shows the world just how professional you really are.
The right resources
Your website isn’t the only thing about the modern world that you need to be aware of when it comes to making the most of your career as a personal trainer. There are so many resources out there that can make a huge difference to your business and you need to not only be willing to use them but also to understand which ones can really help you. Things like the right personal training software allow you to train more clients with better results and to use your time far more wisely. Not only that but you need to be sure that you have all of the equipment that you need. Everything from mats to weights. Your clients are likely relying on you to provide a full service that goes beyond just guiding them with their workout and it’s your duty to provide that for them using the best personal training software.
The ability to connect with people
Speaking of what your clients are expecting from you, one of the biggest mistakes that a lot of aspiring personal trainers make is that they forget that they will be working one-on-one with people every single day, so it really pays to be a people person, literally. If you’re not willing and able to connect with your clients on a personal level, that’s a problem. A lot of people feel very vulnerable when they are trying to become more healthy and it’s your job to try your best to set them at ease. Not only that but if you’re able to connect with your clients on a personal level, you’re going to have a far better idea of how you can most effectively help them to reach their goals.
One of the biggest mistakes that a lot of aspiring personal trainers make is to assume that, just because they love keeping fit and working out, that it’s going to be an easy job. The truth is that, just like any other job, there are going to be challenging days and days where you’d rather just stay home and relax. However, doing something that you’re truly passionate about is going to make it so that those days are incredibly few and far between and the rest of your days are fun and satisfying.
When you put yourself in the position of running a business, you are in charge of ensuring the safety and security of everyone in the building with you. If there is a disaster, you are the person in charge of figuring that out – and that’s why you need to be aware of the risks that come with running a business. One of your clients can file lawsuits against you. A natural disaster could flatten your business in less than an hour. An employee could get hurt on site and there would be damages to pay. Your business needs insurance, and it needs it now.
You may have dealt with any number of those scenarios before, and you may have dealt with a public insurance adjuster who works on your claim for you. It still doesn’t teach you WHY you need that insurance, which is why we’ve put together some of the benefits of having it in your business. Let’s take a closer look.
Your staff are covered if there is an injury on site or in the office itself. You don’t want to pay out of pocket expenses for an injury claim, not when your insurance can pay for it and you can ensure that the liability insurance that you have covers for the injury costs and the loss of wages.
If your building is on fire, flattened by a tornado or destroyed in an earthquake, you can get financial help to get back on your feet. Insurance allows you to continue operations because the pay out you will get covers for your losses where damage is the reason for needing it.
If you ever accidentally violate any copyright laws, your insurance can cover your back. Liability insurance is there to rescue you in these circumstances and it can ensure that your claim is paid out.
You will minimize your financial losses if you have the right insurance in place. If there is a breakdown in your warehouse, you may not be able to continue your business – but if you have insurance, you can!
If you are taken to court and there is a settlement to be paid, your insurance will pay for that. Your policy will be able to get you out of the situation and enable you to continue your business activity.
Speaking of business continuity, insurance is great for that. Any event that you don’t foresee hitting your business can hit, and it’s these events that will be the shield that helps and allows your business to continue running.
You will be able to protect your brand and your business image when you are seen to be a business who cares enough to get insurance in the first place. Believe it or not, there are businesses out there that won’t cover themselves, and these are the ones that are classed as being unethical.
Insurance can be the difference between your business continuing to run and you being forced to shut up shop. Which would you prefer?
Everyone has the dream of being able to set up their own business. However, for a lot of people, that’s just how they’ll stay: dreams. If you really want to get out there and start your own business, then you’ll need one thing above all else: a really great product. However, a lot of people assume that they already have that covered. They have an idea for a product that they think people really want and assume that they’re ready to get started turning it into a reality. However, this often leads to a lot of people getting started prematurely which inevitably leads to their new business failing before it has the chance to ever get off the ground. In order to help your business to avoid this fate, here are some details that you should never neglect when creating your product.
Figure out what makes it stand out
If you want to build an entire business around a product, then you want to be sure that it’s something that isn’t already being done by a thousand other companies. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to reinvent the wheel. It simply means that you’ve got to figure out what it is that sets your product apart from its competitors. This could be anything from providing high quality at a more competitive price point, to increased functionality of the product over other versions, to simply being something familiar designed in a more modern, stylish way. Plenty of products take influence from things around them; it’s often just about mixing together those influences until you come up with something unique.
Think about packaging
This is something that is considered an afterthought far too often by many businesses. They focus entirely on the development of the product itself but never consider how it’s going to be presented to the customers on a retail level. However, branding is one of the most important aspects of actually getting your product off the shelves and into consumer’s homes. Plenty of packaging market research shows that branding that is both distinct, consistent and fitting with your product is essential to getting customers to engage with it. Think about a company like Apple. They understood that, when it comes to consumer tech, customers want something sleek, simple, and elegant. If they’d stuck with the style of the older Macs, they would never have become the genuine cultural juggernaut they are today.
Understand the process
The reality of creating a great product is that it’s a multi-step process and you need to understand that process. Product management is something that is often overlooked far too often by many businesses. However, without the correct product management, you’re likely to end up in a position where you’re not going to be able to make the most of your product.
One important thing to remember is that the perfect product might be essential to your business but it’s not going to make it a success all by itself. You need to be willing to think carefully about every aspect of your business at all times.
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