After more than one year of pain, you may be tired of spending time and energy dealing with the new pandemic lifestyle.
Like everyone else, you may be sick of hearing about Covid-19 and repeating phrases such as “unprecedented times”, “the new normal”, or “dealing with uncertainty”.
I know what you’re thinking: “The pandemic makes me feel exhausted, and I need to tune it out for a while, so maybe I will just close this page.”
You are right. The pandemic has brought grief and loss of financial stability, and many of us feel burnt out.
However, it would be best if you didn’t close this page.
This post is not related directly to the pandemic but to your company’s growth (mainly because I have already written an article about the Covid-19 implications for businesses).
Many people believe that the end of the coronavirus pandemic is in sight. But even after the pandemic ends, we are likely to inhabit a different world for years to come.
You may need to change your business model and shift your focus to adapt to the new reality that is here to stay.
Table of contents:
1.1. Invest in your digital presence
1.2. Adopt more flexible work policies
1.3. Stay connected to your customers
1.4. Rethink how you do business
1.5. Focus on workspace changes and hygiene
1. 5 Ways To Get Your Business Ready For Life After Covid-19
Below you will find a list of expert tips that will smooth your path to achieving long-term business growth in the post-Covid-19 era.
No worries, I will not tell you to “encourage social distancing in the workplace” (as it would be too evident and conventional).
The pieces of advice below can improve your small business regardless of the pandemic. Therefore, it would help if you considered them to transition to a new way of doing business and leverage the emerging workplace trends to stand out from your competitors.
1.1. Invest In Your Digital Presence
According to Forbes, the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed Internet usage up 70%, while streaming has jumped by at least 12%.
It therefore comes as no surprise that your business needs a solid online presence to convert more leads into buying customers.
Your website is your most important online asset (and I guess you have already built a captivating, user-friendly, and aesthetically pleasing website).
But since the digital and e-commerce sectors have boomed amid the coronavirus crisis, having a beautiful website is not enough to grab the attention of potential customers.
Do you have an effective social media strategy? Are you harnessing the power of SEO to get to the top of Google’s search results?
The pandemic made us go digital, and the technology will only evolve alongside us.
If you do not have a solid online presence on the most popular review platforms and search engines or did not optimise your business listings, I suggest that you read these posts: 15 review platforms to list your business and get more leads, 8 tried and tested ways to get more Google My Business reviews, and 3 ways to get reviews on Bing Places and generate more leads.
1.2. Adopt More Flexible Work Policies
I can’t stress this enough: the traditional office is over.
The grind of the daily commute, ease of digital communication, and rise of remote work killed the conventional workplace. Employees do not want to return to the impersonal, cubicle-style workspaces.
Implementing a flexible work arrangement means switching to flexible workspaces that create dynamic environments.
While some of your employees are able to operate remotely, others may need a temporary collaborative space for brainstorming sessions, presentations, or project staging. Thus, the modern workplace is more agile and resilient to support remote and hybrid work arrangements.
Of course, flexible work policies keep your employees safe in the context of the ongoing pandemic. But they are more than a temporary trend.
Blended work locations, different shift patterns, and office space on demand are here to stay as they increase employee productivity by allowing them to live a healthy work-life balance. In addition, they help companies save money on expensive overhead costs related to renting fixed office space.
Fully furnished and equipped virtual offices are the new workplace trend emerging from Covid-19 as they allow organisations to use the cash more constructively and support remote and hybrid working.
No matter what type of workspace you choose, I suggest that you find an alternative to the expensive and obsolete traditional office space.
1.3. Stay Connected To Your Customers
After more than one year of the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses are still striving to stay on top of the latest recommendations and keep employees and customers safe.
Since many people still avoid unnecessary commuting (meaning that some of them may not visit you while the pandemic is still underway – if applicable to your business model), staying connected to your customers is more important than ever.
For example, you can strengthen the relationship with the local community by providing free advice in your areas of expertise, teaching free courses, or running a contest.
You should always keep your customers up to date with changes in your services by updating your website and improving your social media presence.
I also suggest that you stay connected with your customers through various means of communication that allows them to interact with a real person.
For example, you can add live chat (Instant Messaging) to your website or get a virtual receptionist with 24/7 coverage to handle phone calls and answer FAQs.
It would be best if you also considered hosting virtual events to bring regular customers together (e.g., a virtual pub quiz on platforms such as Facebook live, Zoom, or Houseparty).
1.4. Rethink How You Do Business
The global crisis still underway provides you with a chance to seek new ways to drive revenue and generate opportunities.
Maybe the pre-Covid business model was obsolete and was time to unlock new value for businesses and customers.
In the current business environment, you need to reflect on cost containment to reduce operational costs and move to a scalable model (as I mentioned above, flexible office spaces provide an excellent opportunity for freeing up capital and accelerating growth).
It is also essential to rethink your products and services in the long term and anticipate how they will evolve to respond to changes that affect your product portfolio. You may need to strive to innovate and develop your products and services around new value streams.
For example, consumer behaviour has changed while product demand shifted from specific products to others even though Covid-19 restrictions have become more relaxed (because several employees are still working from home).
As a general rule, it would be best to plan for high necessity and essential products (e.g., cleaning supplies, consumable paper products, etc.) or medium need products (e.g., sports gear, wellness and beauty products, etc.).
As a business owner, I am pretty sure you know that you must apply a demand planning strategy. However, testing demand for your products or services in a post-Covid world is critical for your business growth.
1.5. Focus On Workspace Changes And Hygiene
Even after the pandemic ends, going to work with a cough could become socially unacceptable (as The Mirror points out). Covid-19 is likely to have permanent effects on the way we work. Crowds might be anxiety-inducing in the years to come.
No matter what office space you use, think about the changes you need to make to accommodate people’s needs in the long term.
Of course, after more than a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, I’m sure you know that you should provide sanitation stations (or your office provider should make them available) and work in a safe and hygienic office.
What I’m trying to say is that you should be ready for permanent changes in the workplace. So it would be best to rethink office design (for example, even after the pandemic is over, people may feel uncomfortable in a fully occupied conference room, without distanced seating).
In other words, you should consider workspace changes and good hygiene practices as permanent effects (or at least long-term effects) of the pandemic.
To drive business opportunities, you should adapt to a new world with different rules instead of thinking that the world will soon go “back to normal”.
In just a few months, the pandemic has brought years of change in the way organisations do business.
For this reason, the Covid-19 crisis has provided all businesses with a chance to reconfigure their operating models and increase flexibility.
To adapt your business and evolve during the current crisis, you should start by understanding how habits have changed (and it is highly likely that they have changed forever).
If you are looking for ways to adapt your business to the new reality, B2B HQ can provide you with a flexible virtual office that is the most affordable and convenient workspace in the post-Covid-19 era. Do not hesitate to contact us! Our team would be more than happy to provide you with further details concerning our services and how they can enhance your business growth.
