Any small business owners out there? Get in here because today’s publication is for you! Why? Well, answer these questions: are you feeling overwhelmed as the second round of lockdowns have decimated your anticipated Q4 profit margin since the holidays are your most profitable season? Are you discouraged that restrictions will be lifted in the dead of winter, say late January when you usually have the lowest number of customers? Do you feel like giving up as you see no way out of this coronavirus nightmare? Do not give up, Dear Entrepreneurs, as help is here! Keep reading to find out the three tips you need to get your business back on track and have a much more profitable year in 2021!
Welcome back to the JMS blog, Dear Entrepreneurs!
Thanks for all your emails voicing concerns and asking for our advice. As a boutique management firm in Philadelphia, the JMS team is all too familiar with the panic you all feel. Thankfully, as seen on the home page, JMS is in the business of designing a robust recovery plan to avoid and address organizational paralysis as effectively as possible. Consequently, the JMS team is here to provide valuable tips that will help your small business navigate these coronavirus-induced hard times and come back stronger in 2021.
Related: catch up on the previous small business publication that examined actional tips to help entrepreneurs survive the first lockdown.
Good news for Philadelphians! Mayor Jim Kenney and the city’s health secretary Dr. Thomas Farley have announced the lifting of some lockdown restrictions. Notably, indoor dining reopened at 25% capacity over the weekend, while some Free Library branches will open starting Jan. 19 for limited in-person services. These timid signs are proof that the economy is reopening slowly. So, Dear Entrepreneurs, this is the time to ramp up your reopening strategy to make up for all that you lost due to lockdown 2.0. The time has come to rebuild! Are you ready? Let’s jump right into the JMS three-prong rebuilding strategy to help small businesses come back from the coronavirus.
Focus on connecting online.
Listen, Dear Entrepreneurs, find a way to create deeper relationships and find new opportunities to interact with customers in this post-pandemic world of ours. Amid the chaos, you can always find an opportunity as your mindset shifts and help you grow. That’s how you become more resilient.
Related: Learn more about how building resilience is the key to facing any crisis effectively.
Concretely, Dear Entrepreneurs now is the time to develop a more robust digital infrastructure. If you are not online yet, you’ve got to get it without any further delay! Having a strategic online presence will give you a leg up once the economy reopens. Indeed, the connection you have managed to form will become client leads. And once we are all back to work, we will finally have some disposable income. Wouldn’t it be nice for your small business to be able to capture any portion of that disposable income?
So, Dear Entrepreneurs, this blog encourages you to find the time to move more processes online. You don’t have to stop using paper filling completely but think of automated systems that can facilitate future operations as your small business will eventually grow again! As always, do not hesitate to contact us at jms@branding24seven.com if you need assistance with a tailor-made strategy to incorporate technology and e-commerce capabilities into your small business. The JMS team will help you identify new ways to connect with existing customers and extend your reach to new communities. Do you know a more effective strategy to creates a new revenue stream for your small business? Let us know in the comments section below or by email!
Cultivate prospects by volunteering.
Dear Entrepreneurs, this blog gets it. You are discouraged, anxious, and angry. Yes, the coronavirus has dealt a massive setback to your small business. The global pandemic might have put your life in peril more than once last year. But, staying angry and depressed will not help you. You might feel better venting to everyone that life is unfair but, such behavior will quickly tire your most fervent supporter. While it can be challenging, Dear Entrepreneurs invites you to cultivate gratitude. It will free your mind from toxic fumes unleashed by well-founded fear and change your perspective to find possibilities amid utter chaos! Wouldn’t you welcome such a life-changing shift, Dear Entrepreneurs, right about now as you are reading this publication?
Related: Find out how cultivating gratitude will make you more successful in life (yes, even in a pandemic)!
So, Dear Entrepreneurs, have you ever thought of volunteering? Is that an odd question? Absolutely not! Helping the least fortunate in our communities is the most poignant reminder to cultivate gratitude. In addition to seeing just how lucky you are to be healthy, have a roof over your head, and be surrounded by loved ones, Dear Entrepreneurs, you will interact with a new audience and prospective clients effortlessly.
Yes, you indeed volunteer to support your local community. But it is also true that business relies heavily on relations and word of mouth. And since the virtues of kindness and charity appear to be sorely lacking these days, you will stand out more than you know if you learn to be a compassionate human being. And who knows, your next big break could come from a kind word you said to a member of your church or your much-appreciated contribution to a local charity event.
Furthermore, Dear Entrepreneurs, these interactions could help you reimagine how your small businesses could meet the new demands that the coronavirus has mercilessly thrust onto the local economy! You will never know unless you stop looking inward and open yourself to the many possibilities right in your communities! If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that you should always be ready as life is often unpredictable! Wouldn’t you say, Dear Readers? So, get to it without any further delay!
Count your blessings and forge ahead.
Alright, Dear Entrepreneurs, let’s discuss the single most important differentiating factor between you and the rest of the world. You are risk-takers. Let’s face it; if you weren’t, you wouldn’t have chosen to through yourselves in the thrilling universe of entrepreneurship. Risk, of course, necessitates the willingness to fight. Now is the time to fight and forger ahead.
Do not look around and wait for positive signs. There aren’t any! At the time of publication, there are 24.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 414 thousand deaths in the U.S. You have a decision to make. You can let the global pandemic take everything from you, or you can fight with everything you’ve got. The choice is yours.
This blog hopes, however, that you won’t give up, Dear Entrepreneurs. Instead, count your blessings and forge ahead. To be alive is a formidable gift that we should not take for granted. Why not use this opportunity to go all-in on your dreams?
Related: find out how going all-in is your only option if you want to smash your goals.
So, what can you do? You can reimagine your business. Listen, Dear Entrepreneurs, the people who are surviving the global pandemic are the ones who can pivot and adapt quickly. Consequently, this blog suggests calling your team back (even the employees you might have had to let go) to brainstorm and see what is likely to stick.
You can reimagine your business, explore unimaginable frontiers, or test limits you might have shied away from in the past. Listen to your team and take in the feedback. Your current and ex-employees want to see you succeed if only to be able to come back to a job they love. Their feedback and support will be enough to dispel any feelings of doubt, hesitation, misgiving, or despair you might have been battling in lockdown as you watched hopelessly your business rack up more losses than ever before.
You forge ahead with the ideas your trusted team brings you. Dear Entrepreneurs, you forge ahead by transforming said ideas into short-term actionable steps to help your small businesses recover faster. You forge ahead by involving your team and asking a few trusted employees to spearhead parts of the recovery plan and transform it into a mid-term vision for your small business. That, Dear Entrepreneurs, is how to get your businesses back on track and have a much more profitable year in 2021!
Final thoughts.
There you have it! Dear Entrepreneurs, thank you for stopping by the blog today. What do you think? Did the JMS team convince you that your small business can turn things around even in this pandemic? Are you feeling defeated? Or are you finally seeing the light at the end of the darkest tunnel ever? Leave a comment below and tell us what you think!
Remember, Dear Entrepreneurs, you know your employees very well, and they trust you. It’s time to lean in and include them in the process of rebuilding. They will feel invested in your success and will remain loyal as they get a better understanding of the cost to you to run a small business (i.e., the additional cost to move back from contract staffing to full-time positions).
Despite all the obstacles you’ve overcome and never thought you could, you are here and alive. You absolutely can forge ahead. With the right mindset and a robust strategy tailor-made to the current economic landscape, your small business will thrive in 2021. If you feel that you need additional help, email us at jms@branding24seven.com to set up a free 15-minute phone consultation and find out how the JMS team can help your small business come back stronger from coronavirus related setbacks.
2021 can bring you a roaring success. You’ve learned a lot, and you know what to expect. COVID-19 is no longer this unknown killer that will disrupt your business and your way of life. You are now a lot more knowledgeable, resilient, and determined. Remember that your strength is always greater than any obstacle. To join the community of like-minded movers and shakers who are determined to rebuild in 2021, email us at jms@branding24seven.com if you want to start receiving the JMS small business newsletter! And share this publication with anyone who needs a bit of inspiration on Facebook and Twitter!
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