There are plenty of reasons why you might be finding you and your business struggling more than usual these days. New competitors on the market, reduced demand for your products and services, a worldwide pandemic that drastically changed the shape of the economy and forced a change in consumer habits, goals, and willingness to go outside - there are plenty of things that have impacted your ability to do business well.
Digging yourself out of a slump can be difficult and challenging in itself, especially if you don’t have the right knowledge and toolset to give yourself the opportunity to succeed. Which is why in this blog, we’ll be looking at five ways you can get your businesses out of hot water and back on track.
1. Assess
To begin with, you need to assess the damage done to your business. How can you possibly make a plan for the future if you don’t know just how badly your small business has been affected?
Start by looking at the numbers. Look at your sales, profits, cash flows and they compare to the previous year to see exactly where you stand. It may be that the damage isn’t as bad as you think, but there’s a good chance it could be worse than you think. You’ll also need to factor in things like any potential layoffs you’ve had to make, if you’ve lost any clients or if you’ve reduced advertising spends, as they all contribute towards your bottom line.
Once you’ve got an idea on where you stand financially, you can start to formulate a plan and work towards it.
2. Think Outside the Box
Now that you’ve assessed your financial situation and know where you stand, it’s time to start being creative and think outside the box. Times have changed, and so has the way your business operates, whether you like it or not.
Moving forward, you can’t expect to operate the same and gain the same results. Businesses all around the world are already adopting new ways to sell their products and services. With the amount of time consumers spent online during lockdowns, digital trends across the board are increasing, especially online shopping.
According to NZ Post, which released its annual online shopping report, The Full Download, online spending peaked at more than $200 million in late April, and it received more than 3.5 million parcels in the first two weeks of alert level 3. By May, the number of Kiwis shopping online was 1.5 million, a 28 percent increase from May 2019. Chris Wong, general manager of business at NZ Post said the following:
“[Covid-19] has forever changed the way Kiwis shop. Buying your groceries and other everyday items online and having them delivered has become the new norm for many.”
In light of this, making sure your business is where your customers are is vital for moving forward in a post-COVID-19 world. Adapting new digital strategies, as well as rethinking how your position yourself and your offer will ultimately decide your fate moving forward.
3. Make Smart Investments
To quote the late, great Kenny Rodgers “You've got to know when to hold 'em; Know when to fold 'em”.
Before COVID-19, businesses would have had more financial freedom to jump at new and exciting opportunities. Whether it be hiring new employees, purchasing new software, opening new franchises, whatever it may be, it was more common to spend money a little more liberally.
However, moving into a post-pandemic world, knowing what you should invest your money in, and knowing what you shouldn’t, will help you in the long run. Businesses should only be focusing on the investments that will help them to make up for the money they lost during the hard-hit months of the pandemic.
4. Revamp Your Digital Marketing
Thanks to lockdowns and tough restrictions around the world, we were stuck inside for longer than we’ve ever before, meaning we spent even more time online. Our content consumption skyrocketed as we watched on-demand movies and tv shows, more tutorial-based content like home workouts and yoga, more online shopping, and most of all, more time browsing social media.
Although some of these trends may see a slight decline as lockdowns ease, restrictions become lighter, and people venture outside - like what has happened in New Zealand - but this doesn’t take away from the fact that we, as a society, are spending more time than ever online, and this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
With this in mind, and the struggles small businesses are facing going forward, it is now more important than ever to revamp your digital marketing strategy. Spending your money wisely on a digital marketing strategy can see you talking to the right people, help to create or boost your online presence and authority, and in turn, get people into your sales funnel, becoming purchasers and hopefully, in the end, advocates for your brand and product or offer.
5. Talk to Yellow
Getting your digital marketing efforts underway can be difficult, especially if you’re a small business owner who doesn’t have the time, resources or knowledge to do it successfully. Lucky for you, Yellow specialises in helping small businesses with their digital marketing.
Here at Yellow, we aim to get your business in front of the right people. We’ve compiled business solutions that can help you with your specific business goals like getting you an online presence with a Yellow Profile and fine-tuning your SEO. We’ll drive more customers to your website through effective and targeted Google Search and Display Ads, as well as Facebook Ads.
We can also help you incorporate a powerful sales CRM and marketing automation to help run inbound marketing campaigns alongside a customer service module that helps you look after your customers along the way. All of this will help you work smarter, not harder.
The water may be feeling a little hot, but don’t worry, that’s normal right now. The best thing you can do is to continue to get stuck into it while also thinking of new and fresh approaches you can take to getting your business back on track.
