10 things small businesses can do during and after COVID-19 Lockdown to generate business.

The questions COVID-19 poses for any small and medium enterprise is the ‘what next’? How do we survive the downfall in the market?

COVID-19 has been declared as a pandemic across the world and the social emergency is creating a panic across masses. So, to be precise we are here talking about the things that we could do during COVID-19 Lockdown and after that, so that our actions can bring about favorable changes to a business.

• Go digital – Yes, this is the right time to get your business onto the digital platforms. If you don’t have a website already, now is the best time for a great start. A lot of companies provide web services at reasonable prices and there are few free platforms if you like to try your hands on building a website. Try selling products online through various apps and websites. You can also open virtual payment links that will help your customers do transactions online, sitting at their comfort zone.

• Build a social profile – A lot of Entrepreneurs who have been in the business for quite some time have failed to build a social profile. A good LinkedIn page would be a great start. How to build a professional LinkedIn page? I will be posting the same in our next blog. It is also important for you to have a good social profile as well, in order to present to your client.

• Blogs and opinion pieces – If you are good at expressing your ideas, then a blog page would be an ideal thing for you. All those opinions shared on WhatsApp and Twitter might not yield results, but a good blog definitely will. WordPress is a brilliant and user friendly platform to have a blog, if you do not want to publish on your own website. Blogs create chances for social engagement between you, your clients and vendors. It will also be a good channel for others to express their opinions on your blogs. For starters, you could write about your services, your business, the weather today, etc.

• Make videos and earn – YouTube is an efficient platform that can help earn while at home. Short videos or Vlog (a video blog) stories on regular intervals can help you generate income. While at home, you can post a review of a movie that you watched on Netflix, or talk about a recipe you tried. You can use a basic phone to record these videos and post them online using free video editing tools (there are plenty online).

• Host and attend webinars – There are many video conference enabling apps like Skype, Zoom, etc., which allow you to interact with over a hundred online viewers at a time. There are also many companies and individuals hosting really interesting webinars for free. Look for a topic you like and just join in! If you believe you are the jack of the trade, go ahead and host a webinar. Share link with friends and share your thoughts with the world. You could add your clients and vendors on your webinar too. This will help you keep the rapport alive during the lockdown.

• Revamping your companies’ approach – This is also a brilliant opportunity to re-think your ways of working. If you want to implement something new or change the way your brand has been projecting itself, do it now. You could start with changing the content on your website, creating a new brand promotion campaign, sending out a newsletter, etc. You can also host multiple trainings for your employees. This will also be a great time to have those one on one catch-ups with your employees and to involve them in the planning process. Involving your employees will give them a moral boost to come back to work with fresh ideas.

• Create digital campaigns and invest on digital marketing – You are sitting at home and so would be your target audience. On an average the world is spending 5-6 hours staring at a digital device. Since the audience are captured online, it will be a great step to get your ads to reach the people online. A good digital campaign can help in boosting your brand value and also your business. For example, ask encourage everyone to stay safe.

• Earn a new degree online – When you are sitting at home doing nothing, you can involve yourself into learning new things. New things that would help your business and also to enhance your knowledge about business. There are a trillion certification courses online. When you walk out of the lockdown, you can walk out with a lengthier resume.

• Financial check-up – Yes, you heard me right. Since most of your financial transactions happen online, you can actually go and check your accounts and see what you could improve in the coming years. Usually small medium enterprises tend to listen to your charted accountant when it comes to filing your annual taxes, now would be great time to do it yourself and understand how your business is doing.

• Relax and Rejuvenate – This is most important for entrepreneurs. We all agree we are going through a very bad economic curve. The global recession could hit us any time and the market is not going to be the same as before the lockdown. Our business approach needs to change, so should we. Find a quiet place, sit for meditation, spend time with your loved ones and rejuvenate yourself. When this is over, let be better and do better.

Remember, you started your business, maybe now it is the time to restart. To upgrade and be a better version.