Businesses face problems all the time due to many reasons and according to the World Bank, the global pandemic impact will be a deeper economic downturn than the 2007-09 Great Recession and will push over 60 million people around the world into deep poverty.
The message is clear - the struggle for survival is real. But even when you survive a crisis like this, it’s the re-entry that could have a toll on your business. That’s why planning a successful re-entry for your business is a good idea. It will be difficult, however, considering that the world will change radically after a crisis.
How do businesses weather this storm?
The thing about a crisis is - it comes in different shapes, sizes, and doesn’t discriminate. And businesses who adapt to change with effective business continuity management can come out of any crisis stronger than before.
Following it can also be simple but only by making hard choices, bringing in some new and unfamiliar changes. But they are important to retain the most important aspect of a business
Maintaining a good relationship with your existing customers.
The added benefit of reemerging is that you can implement new, additional plans that you have been wanting to add for quite some time. Apart from retaining your customer base, make up a bang-on plan to ensure the success of your business after a crisis.
It’s better late than never. Start preparing now instead of later:
No matter the size of a business, you should be prepared to face a crisis, natural or otherwise, head-on and with all your might. Staying alert like knowing your business strong and weak points, staying ahead of time, investing in new set skills, and finally making your online-presence better are few key aspects that’ll help your business stay afloat during and after a crisis.
Pre-planning:
Every business, small or big, needs to have a plan in place to prevent a crisis or survive through before it occurs. This includes having the right strategies, educating the staff, and finally making them fool-proof by conducting practice tests from time to time.
Response:
Later comes how you respond to the actual crisis and how well your staff and stakeholders know the crisis management plans or strategies to deal with a critical situation.
Crisis Aftermath:
Here comes the hard part where you have to analyze the after-crisis situation of your business and find out how well your customers, staff, and stakeholders handled the situation. This step is the most critical as it helps you know how well you and your company can handle a disaster.
Here are 5 ways you can plan a successful re-entry after a crisis:
Make physical changes
Not only the operational side of the business but your office space matters in a post-crisis period. People face a collective trauma in crises and ensuring that they are safe in your office with the help of small changes at your space can do wonders for your employees and customers.
For example, when you restart your business after this COVID-19 pandemic, stricter measures with regard to cleanliness and hygiene would be expected and people would still follow guidelines for a very long period of time, even when the threat has subsided.
Have some ‘cool as a cucumber’ staff members
Hire people who can handle a tough situation like a pro, those who won’t succumb under pressure or panic. Disasters are unpredictable and can arise due to both internal and external factors. So, hiring a person/people who can lead to a tough situation and help the staff make the right decisions becomes crucial to the business.
Apart from hiring a competent manager, you should also retain a staff person or two who know the inside-outs of your company. They can be of huge help when it comes to speaking the hard, unbending truth if the need arises.
Enable remote working
Working remotely can help you and your employees work efficiently through thins and thick without needing to stop the flow of work. Even outside of a lockdown, remote working holds possibilities that a geo-restricted workplace can never offer.
Remote working helps businesses manage their finances effectively and reduce additional expenses. Instead, these expenses can be put in to expand the business or improve it.
Be your own critic
We know it can be quite difficult to criticize your own strategies. But it is important to do so in order to come up with infallible strategies to ensure your business strives during a tough period. Review your plans before applying them post-crisis. Whether it is revising finances or operational procedures, you need to make sure that they are updated with all recent changes in plans.
Also, conduct regular meetings with your stakeholders and staff to know their opinions and suggestions. It helps build a team that’s ready to face challenges with you because you value what they think and where they are coming from.
Let the market know your ‘New’ story:
For better or for worse, people connect to emotions or feelings better than logical reasoning. When you talk to your customers about your re-entry plans, instead of giving them numbers and facts and data, tell them your story. Be transparent, be vulnerable, and be authentic.
Show them how you managed to survive the crisis and how you plan to move forward. Tell them what role they played and will play in their transformative journey. Include them in your story, make them feel connected.
Fission Labs is a software company that creates unique, tailor-made solutions to suit the need of every client. They offer services like web and mobile applications, AI and ML-based solutions, software testing, salesforce services, data & analytic services, and cloud-based applications.
Recently they have launched remote services that companies can utilize to run their businesses smoothly in a time of crisis. And the best part is they can avail of the services with no additional obligations.