As industries today suffer the impacts of the pandemic, our economy is left to deal with uncertainties. In a situation when even the large businesses are managing to stay afloat, what is the condition of the small or medium businesses is needless to say.
Based on the latest report on the pandemic, most small businesses said that the primary reason of their losses have been few or no customers, insufficient capital to maintain the business and the employees, and government-enforced lockdowns. To add more, many SMEs aren’t fully equipped to shift to a digital or remote work situation from a physical work because of the lockdown.
Another challenge these operators may be facing could be lack of innovative business acumen, allowing experimentation and newer approaches. However, they may be rigid due to the limited resources and this can be a contributing factor for the intense economic downturn upon the small businesses.
Though there are many other challenges apart from these, let’s find out what could be the possible solution for them.
Firstly, change your focus to the problems you have been overlooking. Be it a functional or technical issue, every business faces complaints, which you need to deal with. And now it is the best time to look at these problems and find a long-term solution. Similarly, solving these issues could help you deal with the financial constraints and ease the workflow.
Secondly, start preserving your financial reserves as businesses are doing the bare minimum these days. It would be wise not to waste your resources as we do not know how long will this crisis remain.
Third, try to see the positives and take advantage of what your competitors are ignoring. When you do this, you are actually expanding into the markets while adopting new approaches, which your competitors are yet to explore.
Fourth, expand your market. Do not rely completely on your present customers. In fact, even in the usual situation, one cannot rely on the current customer’s transactions. So, if you want to utilize the change, you will invest more time to reach people.
Fifth, try to look for new avenues because your present business model may have worked well in the past, but that may not be the case today.
Last but not the least, keep learning. Many businesses tend to make a major mistake i.e., they cut back on learning in order to save. In times like this, learning will help you develop the skills that may help you to face the challenges head-on.
