How to steer your business during the pandemic

We are all facing a tough time. The pandemic is changing the world and you would need to adopt and change too. Your perception of the business, your customers, your business models, your customer expectations and many other aspects of the business are undergoing a paradigm shift. What can you do in this situation? Let us talk about a few things you should do as a startup business owner.

1. Cash flow management
Cash flow is very important in this period. This is the time when you will have to have any issues in disbursing salaries to employees. There are a few of you who might have deducted salaries of your employees. However, it is your duty to make sure that you manage your cash flows in terms of internal accruals, loans or short-term funding. This is important because you will need to pay your bills and salary on time. This will ensure that your startup will keep functioning till the situation changes. You can then turnaround your business.
2. Changed working space
All of you would have had this problem. You would have been so used to keeping your employees in tact in one shelter and would have ideated and worked along with them to get your deliverables out. Now that the office space is not there temporarily. This might be the norm for many companies in the future as well. It is important that you get used to working in this situation. You will need to get comfortable with the tools that facilitates remote working.
3. Keep your customers very happy
New customers maybe hard to come by in these days of the pandemic. However, it is prudent that your existing customers are kept very happy. They are giving you the business and they are generating revenue for you now even though it could be little. They are the ones who can spread goodness about you especially when your potential customers will be a little unsure of the investment and the Return On Investment.
4. Communicate positiveness
As it goes without saying, the ultimate test of leadership is to keep communicating positiveness. The team will be as strong or as weak as you are. Your employees may feel in-secured when they keep hearing the bad news in the market. You are playing a lonely game when you are a founder. You might want a shoulder to cry on. However, your open-ended chat with them on your perceived weakness about the future could make them nervous. So you should also communicate positive to them.
5. Pivot fast
There could be a few of you who might be seeing your customers needs changing during the pandemic. It is important that you keep watching out for these changes. Sometimes, you might even find out that your solution may not be even suitable when customers would follow the same norm after the pandemic. Hence it is important that you pivot as fast as you can. This will help you build a scalable solution for the future market.
6. Be active in social media
You can keep the brand alive in the minds of the customer as long as you keep your amplification alive. You will need to keep showing up in multiple social media channels and keep informing customers on who you are, what you do, how will you be useful to your customers etc. This will help the customers constantly be reminded of you and you might end up being a choice to consider when they would get into the mode of purchasing.
7. Support the team
Your team is your best asset at this time. They are working from home and they may also have their own share of personal issues. You will have to support them as much as you can. Keep communicating to them, keep giving them the confidence that you are there as a leader and you will take care of their future. This will motivate the team to work harder.
8. Over-communicate
Sometimes, it is important that you communicate more than what is required. This will help the employees slip into a positive mood as they see you communicating to them frequently and positively.

You will be able to steer through the pandemic if you would end up doing a few of the aspects discussed in the blog. You may not make It very big in this time but you can definitely get the best productivity out of your employees. This is a good start for you to take your business through this and getting ready for the market to open up.

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