The current Covid-19 pandemic has caused severe turmoil in global markets including share fall, and decline in bond prices; which ultimately triggered liquidity issues and left millions of entrepreneurs financially distressed. However, ss the lockdown is going to be relaxed soon, it is time to work towards recovering the business. This comes with a focus on the business structure, marketing strategies, client management, etc, besides the monetary aspect of a business.
Things to Do
Returning to the regular state of the businesses after the Corona situation is highly challenging, as it is resurrecting the business structures. Depending on the business type, the owners might need to reassess their resources, business plan, and policies to go for interim actions to revert the balanced and effective production. Also, repositioning or reactivating their supply chain system in accordance with the global supply chain is the foremost thing to do.
Being exposed to a new situation, consumers are opting for the best alternative options in terms of spending which will transform their purchasing habits, maybe for good. Online services are going to be the new normal for the customers. The respective businesses should analyze this trend and work towards ensuring their capacity to navigate through this. Developing a nerve center, preparing portfolios, and working for decision-making under uncertainty is crucial for any business at this point. Building resilience with long-term adaptability plans is also necessary with a special focus on market volatility and liquidity management.
The businesses should decide on their priorities first other than going for further ventures. They should prioritize the operations without loss of competence instead of targeting for higher production in the beginning. The adoption of suitable technologies will accelerate productivity even if the workforce is unavailable, which will ultimately be an effective way of minimizing costs.
Besides other issues, this pandemic has already put immense pressure on the banking and financial system. This leads to a major cash flow challenge, especially for small and mid-sized companies. To overcome this, businesses should have an accurate overview of their liquidity situation focusing on the available amount in hand, position, the types of currencies, and how long the business can survive with this. A possible solution in this situation is cost-cutting, but the entrepreneurs need to be careful about the hidden cost in this process too. At the same time, the parameters to measure the liquidity need to be set following the current global situation having concentrated on the taxes and government’s incentive packages. And for those, who are not enlisted yet for such packages, they should advocate for government interventions. Besides, reaching out to the creditors, bank/financial bodies to avail of installment-free terms besides other credit facilities can be an option for optimizing the existing cash.
The aftermath of this large scale of social distancing and lockdown measures will transform the preferences of both employees and consumers. The possibility of a “new normal” is inevitable in the coming days, with the notable increase in peoples’ dependency on digital platforms for trading. Conducting market research, assessing possible competitions and collaborations, creating and implementing marketing strategies on digital platforms are the best solutions to run businesses successfully in this current situation. Digital platforms provide a plethora of marketing options that can be effective for any venture if chosen wisely. Investing in setting up a digital identity that presents the business value, products, services, etc according to the customer’s expectations will boost sales and induce more leads. Digital means aids in connecting and building trust with all the stakeholders through extensive communication, effective circulation of information and offers, etc. Also, when cost-minimizing policies might bring a negative impact on marketing strategies, shifting to the digital platforms will help to scale this situation as well.
Communication with the existing clients is crucial to make sure they are constantly informed about the business, procedure, services, or delivery of their purchases. Creating databases with such information and also, how the previous clients used the services, their feedback and if there is anything the company can improve, etc will help to build trust with the clients. Mobile/Email services or direct messaging through popular social media can be the best option for authentic interaction with clients. However, besides retaining the exiting clients, it is also significant to put effort into winning back the previous clients. The businesses should present their better prospects considering the special needs of the clients. Analysis of different social media will help to design successful offers for those clients. Also, sending festive newsletters, gift cards, offering discounts, etc will assist in winning back their trust. Apart from these, the entrepreneurs should focus on the 3 R’s of marketing and sales strategy: Re-evaluate marketing efforts, Restructuring assets, Regrouping marketing efforts. As the previous clients are already familiar with the company, redesigning the marketing strategies will not need further brand awareness but they should be well informed about the current offers and prospects of the company, which will be useful in recovering their interest in the business. To run a business, it is important to build and nurture trust, otherwise, there will always be a high risk of missing out on an operative way to reaching out to or retaining the customers.
