Lentil Marketing

5 ways to grow your business during Covid-19

A large portion of UK businesses have been forced to close due to the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020… What can you do with your business during this period? You might not be able to trade as normal, but here’s some ideas on things you could be doing to improve your business before everything opens for business after the pandemic.

Five ways to grow your business.

1. Marketing – Your business premises might be closed; you may not be trading as normal but keeping your business on people’s minds during a crisis could help to keep your business flowing when things go back to normal. Of course, marketing during a crisis needs to be done sensitively and you’ll need to be careful about what you do promote and when. Utilising social media and your online platforms and website during this time and keeping them active with positive and sensitive content can put you in a good standing for when life returns to normal.

2. Time for an upgrade? – Why not take this time to upgrade your business, update your processes, update your website or maybe even look at a rebrand… We rarely have time to look at our websites or branding when working at full steam; so why not take advantage of these slightly quieter times. Take a good look at your website, your logo, your branding and your everyday processes; create a plan of action and ask your team, colleagues and friends for their input. There will be many graphic and web designers out there who’d appreciate the extra work at this time too!

3. The dreaded paperwork – This is one we all hate doing, but a lockdown is the perfect time to cut down on your paperwork pile. From your finances to your snail-mail, your digital to your physical paperwork… Now’s the time to get it sorted, filed and out of the way in time for heading back to business. Hint – Using software like Excel or even a website like QuickBooks will help you to stay on top of your finances and cut down on workload.

4. Time for a change? – Maybe this crisis will help to show potential issues within your business, things you could change to avoid losing business during similar situations in the future. We often fail to plan for the future or even for situations like Covid-19, so take this as the perfect time for this planning session, talk to your staff, team or friends in business to look at the steps they may have taken. You could implement a stronger work from home structure for your staff, create stronger ties with your clients or suppliers to ensure job security in case of future crisis situations.

5. Time to shine – We’re all guilty of this one… In our day to day work lives, running a business, we can sometimes neglect our staff or clients/customers. Use this time to reconnect with your them, talk to them and interact, more so now than ever… Talk to them about how they are dealing with the crisis, check on their health and wellbeing. Use this time to get closer to them, this will help to keep your business strong and healthy in the long term. It’s also good publicity, yes, we know, but how your business looks during a crisis is incredibly important and can put across a powerful message!

The important message is, don’t rest on your laurels… Things may be quite now, but they won’t be forever. To set your business up in good stead for the future and to prepare for the end of this Covid-19 lockdown, stay active, stay strong and keep going. If you need help implementing any of these steps, utilise the services of the businesses around you, they’re all going through tough times too. You’re not alone!