Small businesses can change/adapt their business models to the new normal condition
To tackle the severe impacts of the coronavirus crisis, small businesses have started adapting to the new normal business strategy.
The coronavirus crisis has caused drastic impacts on small businesses. Many small businesses, be it new or old, are suffering from economic losses in this new normal situation. The ones that started adapting to the new normal business strategy survived.
A survey conducted by the US Chamber of Commerce states that 20% of the small businesses closed either permanently or temporarily during this pandemic situation. According to the same report, we can see that in the South 51% of the small businesses are fully open. This 51% perfectly utilized the new normal business strategy in their business model.
The statistics regarding small businesses in the pandemic situation are heartbreaking. A 41% drop in business activities took place in African-American businesses. 70% of small businesses had to take financial help. 29% of small business owners talked about their fear of extreme loss in business during the unprecedented times. (Source: SEMRush)
Adapting to the new normal business can be a bit tough. But by applying proper business practices, channels, or models, you can easily overcome the situation.
You can apply the strategies mentioned below to help your business survive in the new normal situation.
Create an Online Presence:
A lot of businesses have an online presence even before the Covid-19 pandemic. But people prefer on-spot purchases over online purchases. So the online presence of any business wasn’t mandatory then. But in this new-normal situation being locked down in our homes, people still need to shop. And e-commerce is the only way to shop right now. A lot of businesses have had a downfall since the very beginning of this pandemic. One of the reasons for that is not having proper knowledge about e-commerce.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, global e-commerce sales went from 14% to 17% in the year 2020. In Thailand, the downloads of shopping apps increased to 60% in March 2020. But in the least-developed countries, e-commerce opportunities are still facing persistent barriers.
There are hundreds of e-commerce platforms that make the path to success for online businesses super easy. Sites like Shopify, Big Commerce, and WooCommerce make it easy to sell products online. Sites like Etsy and Bonanza help artists and crafters to make money by selling their pieces of art.
You might be shocked to know that 86% of small businesses in the USA use Facebook to advertise their business. And 73% of them invest money in social media marketing. (Source: SEMRush)
Some small businesses started their journey during the pandemic through online presence. And they are benefitting from that. On the other hand, many retail businesses are on the verge of inexistence.
If your business is small and recently started, try to localize your online presence. If you immediately run to big sites like Amazon and Etsy to sell your products, you have to compete with large businesses. Competing with large businesses will get you nowhere unless you have an Aladdin's lamp and the genie. So try to create a local online presence. Spread your business through Facebook pages, Instagram pages. Tell your family and friends to spread the word.
To fasten the process, you can make some offers to your local people. You can offer them free delivery or a 10% discount.
Creating an online presence for your business doesn't mean that you'd be landing orders soon. It takes time to build a stable online presence. You can also stick to the idea of window shopping and encourage passers-by to make online purchases.
Communicate with customers:
Communicating with the existing customers is equally important to find new customers. Every sort of business, be it small or big, must have an idea about the needs of their customers.
Customers' needs before and during the new normal situation aren't necessarily the same. 51% of Americans are spending less money during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Conduct customer surveys, take product reviews, build a mailing list and keep in touch with your customers through social media. Ask them what changes you can bring to your existing products based on their needs. From a survey of 2014, we can see that 79% out of 2000 people in the US check product reviews before buying a product or a service. (Source: Quirks)
Ask them to send you a picture of them with your product and post it on your social media. Customer-generated content can increase the engagement and audience of your social media pages. Always keep an eye on the upcoming trends and include niche-based products based on that.
Keep connected with your employees:
Your employees are also going through what you are going through. In these unprecedented times, each one of us is under mental stress and pressure. The most sensible thing to do as a business owner is to think about your employees.
32% of small businesses took away the jobs of some employees because of a shortage of money. It wasn't fair on the part of those business owners. But they were helpless too.
In this pandemic situation, be compassionate with your employees. Keep them motivated and talk to them regularly. You can also arrange small in-house parties to cheer them up.
Don't snatch their jobs because your business is going through a loss. Take time to change your business strategy and evolve.
Your employees can be of great help to you in this new-normal situation. Ask them for new product ideas, business operations, strategies, or opportunities.
To ensure the best efforts from your employees, make sure that they have a good work environment while working from home. Check whether they have proper desks and chairs, a high-speed broadband connection, and a computer at their homes. Having a suitable work-from-home environment can boost creativity by 25%. That's huge!
Your employees can boost the online presence of your business by switching their roles. They can make local deliveries or work in shifts to extend business hours.
Partnering with other businesses:
Your business is not the only one suffering because of the new normal situation. Other small businesses are equally having a bad time. To survive this situation, some small businesses are partnering with other small businesses. They are helping each other and recovering faster.
Pitch your idea to other complementary small businesses. If you sell fitness-related products, you can collaborate with any Yoga Studio in your area. By this method, there's a possibility that the people who visit that Yoga Studio will become your customers.
Again if you own a tech shop, you can look out for other tech-related services in your area. If you own a mobile shop, you can collaborate with a business that sells mobile cases. You can give complementary gifts to the customers of both businesses to gain exposure.
You can also partner with influencers in your niche. Social media nowadays is actually in the grips of influencers. Before checking out the page of a small business, people usually search for reviews. And if they see their favorite influencer buying products from you, then your sales go high.
A Business Insider report states that 96% of US and UK consumers have started engaging more with the influencers during this coronavirus crisis. Before you collaborate with an influencer, make sure they are real. There are a lot of influencers who buy fake followers. Avoid them. Search for the influencers in your area so that you can get more local customers.
Change your business models:
Bringing adaptable changes to your existing business model can help your business survive in this pandemic situation. You can brainstorm new ideas to increase your audience and engagement. You can increase or diversify the services and products that you offer.
In response to the coronavirus crisis, 71% of business firms in England have changed their business models. The most common changes they brought to their business strategy are- selling more products online, online customer service, and additional delivery services.
If you own a small restaurant, you can create live online cooking classes. You can give people free access to those classes or start an entire paid cooking course. Give discounts on that course to your regular customers to boost your engagement.
Most small businesses became inexistent during this pandemic. Those who brought adaptable changes to their business models survived. This new normal situation is frustrating to everyone, especially to the small business owners.
Research showed that 7.5 million businesses in the USA would shut down by the end of 2020. Luckily it didn't happen. Only 10% of the businesses shut down.
Adapting to the new normal business isn't easy. The new normal business strategy isn't a piece of cake. Business owners need to adopt long-term changes to make their businesses survive in such a critical situation.
The new normal isn't normal at all. Businesses, education, economy, and health every sector are going through many losses. Though it is easy for big businesses to tackle the situation, it is not easy for small ones. It's hard to recover from the losses caused by the Covid-19 crisis. But businesses that didn't give up are soaring high right now.
