Business Will Not Be the Same. Are you ready?
Small Business Recovery: Answers to your COVID Questions
I’m nervous my business won’t be the same for a long time. How can I be proactive in jump-starting things?
The truth is it probably won’t be for quite some time. For a lot of businesses, this crisis will fundamentally change how you operate — but that may not be all bad in the long term. Real business-changing innovation could help you grow in ways that just weren’t available had things stayed the same. Whether it’s a greater focus on virtual activities and the ability to scale beyond your “local” target, or how you engage with your customers on a day-to-day basis to develop more frequent and/or high-value engagement/interactions.
THINK LONG-TERM
Many businesses used the last month or so to cobble something together for the short term. But the most successful businesses will put more rigor behind making it a more robust and seamless experience.
Now is the time business owners should be thinking carefully about how their customers do business with them. Do everything possible to make it a more pleasant, helpful, and frictionless experience. Examine any potential barriers that exist and then determine how you can improve them, or remove the problem altogether.
There will be people that go back to normal and others who would prefer to interact with your business in a different way. Carve out specific programs and services that are going to add to or improve the ways in which people can engage with you. The best way to find out what your customers want is to ask them. And then deliver.
TARGET HIGH VALUE
People will spend money on things they need or value. Something considered a luxury to one person is a must-have to someone else. Makeup purchases are known to go up in typical recessions, for example.
Who have your high value clients been? Do an analysis to determine which clients have brought the most value to your business in the past. Any marketing you do should be targeted to people who fit that target demographic. Now is not the time to attempt to be everything to everyone. Figure out your most valuable potential clients and market to them. Think about what else they buy. Can you build a relationship with those companies for a partnership or referrals? What businesses “go together”? Every dollar you spend in marketing must be working for you, so spend wisely on high-value targets.
DELIVER IN EVERY WAY
Because spending and overall traffic/activity may be down, you need to stand out and be the only choice in your market. With less traffic and potentially less spending, the best and most visible will survive. Get out there, and communicate, communicate, communicate. You need to outshine your competitors by delivering on customer service on every level. And when you hear from a customer that you’ve done something well, yell it from the rooftops — your social media rooftops, that is. When people are spending less money, they are most likely to spend through referrals and trusted relationships. Be the one that builds trust in troubled times.
EXPANDING YOUR MARKET POTENTIAL
In the startup world, you hear TAM thrown around a lot. TAM stands for Total Addressable Market. This isn’t really small-business language, but the principle is the same. As a small business owner, what is your ceiling for growth and scale? Are you thinking about the amount of potential customers in your town, or your neighboring towns, or a 25-mile radius, or even multi-regional or national? What about online customers, and can you function as a legitimate online player?
If you haven’t done this exercise, then it’s hard to know what your future can hold. Research your customers and your competition. Look to understand what the market size is and whether it’s growing or shrinking. How much competition there is, are there any barriers to entry? Is there an offering that is supplemental to your current business where you can expand your sales? If you are too busy to do the research, and want to look for additional opportunities, don’t ignore it. Get help.
Scaling your total addressable market has two main challenges: 1) you are now competing with many more businesses, so you have to be that much better to be a top choice. And 2) the larger your market, the more you will need marketing to help capture your potential for growth, even if it’s heavily focused on word-of-mouth. Marketing can take many forms and can have just about any price tag. It’s best to think big, but start small.
