Promoting social distancing is mandatory right now and there are countless business owners that now stay at home and are faced with new struggles that were never even considered. Moving from being inside an office, where you can control everything, to having to manage the business from home can be overwhelming.
The coronavirus impacts search marketing, SEO, video marketing, sales, customer support, and more. Stress goes off the roof and you quickly lose control. This is why, as a business manager/owner, it is time to take a step back, breathe and adapt. In order to move any business ahead, we have to adapt. Things are not different with the coronavirus pandemic. Reduce its impact on your business by following these actionable tips.
Set Up A Communication System
The first thing you have to do is to set up a great way to communicate with the rest of the staff and for them to communicate with each other. During such tough times, communication inside the business is mandatory. There are many decisions you need to take and you will need help from the team.
It does not really matter what you use to communicate as long as it works. Some businesses use Slack while others rely on something much simpler, like Facebook Groups. No matter what choice you make, be sure to clearly set up rules so that communication can be on point at all times.
Create And Oversee Company Work Schedule
Since you will be doing management work from your home, it is obvious that many or all employees will work from their home. Unfortunately, when you work at home, it is very easy to lose track so a strict schedule is needed. Fortunately, there was already a schedule that existed at work. People used it and were used to it. Try to use the exact same schedule. Only make changes in the event that they are mandatory.
Actively Prioritize Tasks
When you work from home, you can easily lose track of time. This is why you have to make it a point to do work first and then do whatever else you enjoy at home. Also, you have to prioritize the tasks that are more important. The other employees have to be aware of this prioritization so they also know what they need to work on with a sense of urgency.
As an extra tip, make sure that you do not overload anyone, including you, with too many activities. During these times, it is better to reduce how many tasks are needed and focus on those that are the most important.
Focus On Branding
Because most people stay at home, the use of social networks skyrocketed. This can easily help you to keep in touch with current and potential customers. You can do this through the pages of the company but it is also possible to look for brand mentions yourself. Try to use social media more but do it for business purposes. When you do something for you, do it outside the working hours you set.
Speaking strictly about branding, this is exactly what you should focus on when you build your social media strategy for the COVID-19 pandemic. As you do this, your entire business becomes stronger and the extra advantage is that you can increase brand loyalty. Businesses that have loyal customers will easily survive these dark times.
Instead of doing what you regularly do on social media, shift towards a branding approach. Work hard to improve brand awareness and visibility. You can do this through personal messages, videos and more. Think about what would make the brand look better online as you share something on social media and worry about sales later.
Certification
Now is the perfect time to gain more knowledge as you have more time on your hand. Are there some certificates that you lack and that would improve the quality of the work you do? Are there some certificates that will be useful for some of your employees? Why not take the time to work on your certification efforts?
Self Improvement
As you improve your knowledge, you can also improve yourself. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking time for yourself and doing things that would make you better at the job you do. For instance, do you manage an eCommerce website but you do not know much about branding? Start an online branding course.
Look for ways in which you can improve yourself and get better during the extra time that you gain. This will only make you better at your job and you can take even better steps in the future.
Do What Works For You
The tips above can help you a lot more than you might think to better manage your business. However, the uniqueness of the individual should never be neglected. You need to find what works for you. Due to this, we would like to hear from you about how you manage your business. What are some tips you would like to share with others? These days, we need to do all we can in order to help each other and every little bit of help can do wonders.
