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Common Issues Small Businesses May Encounter:
Capital Availability and Access – Situations like these can strain any business, much more, a small business's financial capacity to keep up payroll, maintain inventory and respond to economic fluctuations (both sudden drops and surges in demand). Businesses should prepare by exploring and recreating their capital access avenues and options to ensure that they have the money they need, when they need it.
Plan – As a business, communicate and work together with your staff and collectively prepare a plan for navigating through this crisis as well as a plan for what steps the business will take if this pandemic worsens or improves. It is also helpful to conduct practice drill exercises to simulate potential scenarios and how your business management and staff might respond to the hypothetical scenario in the exercise.
Decreased Inventory and Supply Chain Cutoff – Though panic buying and over-hoarding is not encouraged, it is a prudent preparedness measure to ensure that you have either ample supplies of inventory for a sustained period and that possibilities exist for you to diversify your distributor outlets in the event that a key supplier cannot meet an order request.
Impact on the Workforce – This global pandemic has just as much impact on your staff as they do your clientele. It is critical to ensure that those employed in your workplace are protected if they are to fulfill their duties during this dangerous time.
Business Place Hygiene and Clean-up Costs – As of now, the severity is great and there is a need to enhance the protection of customers and staff by increasing the frequency and intensity by which your business conducts thorough cleaning of surfaces frequently touched by anyone. Ensure that your supplies of cleaning materials can meet increases in severity.
Changing Market Demand – Depending on your product or service, there is now access controls or movement restrictions implemented among the government and key stakeholders in your business industry which can create quite a challenge in terms of your customers visiting your business. Additionally, there are growing concerns about public exposure to Covid-19, and customers may decide not to come to your business place out of concern of exposing themselves to greater risks. Our trained experts at The Timely Entrepreneur Resource and Research Centre can help you craft a plan specific to your situation to help navigate any rapid changes in demand for your product or service bearing in mind, the real needs of the population at this time.
Marketing – It is imperative that businesses communicate openly with their customers about the status of their operations, the preventative and protective measures implemented, and how they (as customers) will be handled or protected when they visit your organization. Promotions may also help incentivize customers who may be a bit hesitant to visit your business at this time. Be transparent as possible to your clientele.
Insurance Coverage Issues – Many foreign businesses have business interruption insurance; does your insurance company offer this? Now might be a good time to contact your insurance agent to review your policy to understand precisely how your business can be covered / protected in times like this.
