At the time of this writing, the world is in the grips of the novel coronavirus known as Covid-19. Hundreds of thousands are ill, economies have sputtered to a halt, and small firms everywhere are at a loss about what to do.
At the end of the day, though, you still have people to employ, bills to pay, rent to make, and files to maintain. At the same time, you have an ethical responsibility not to put anyone at unnecessary risk of contracting the virus. How do you balance those two propositions? Continue reading below to see our tips on how to best stay safe while continuing to get the most out of your human and other resources.
Work From Home
The best advice we can offer is probably to do everything possible to make sure your people work from home. Now, you’ve heard this before. The federal government, various state governments, health agencies, and the news media have all been vocal about the importance of working from home during this crisis. We’ve also posted about some tools you can use to work from home during this period.
But it bears repeating. Physical separation and isolation is the best way to prevent the spread of the virus and keep your people healthy. If at all possible, your people should use technology to work from home.
Use the Economic Disruption To Your Advantage
You’ve probably noticed fewer clients calling for consultations. There are probably fewer people walking through your doors. And while that’s not great for your bottom line (and we empathize with everyone who’s going through a particularly hard time right now) it does create an opportunity to get some work done that you may have been putting off.
Slower periods are great opportunities to do the hard strategy and planning work that so many firm owners and managers put off during busier times. You may wish to consider doing any of the following tasks while you have the time on your hands:
Writing business plans
Finishing budgets and financial plans
Writing standard operating procedures (SOPs)
Negotiating with service providers to reduce payments
Drafting a firm-wide strategy for the coming year
Creating a disaster-mitigation strategy for the next disruption
The exact task you choose to complete will depend on your needs but our point is that you don’t have to be idle during this time. Use the busy times to do some solid planning and you’ll reap the rewards later when business picks up again.
Final Thoughts
No one enjoys massive reductions in business and our hearts go out to anyone suffering during this difficult time. But, as firm owners and managers, we have a responsibility to our communities, clients, and employees to make the best of a bad situation.
If we use the time to improve our businesses, protect our people, and plan for the future, we’ll come out of this crisis stronger and faster than ever before. We wish you the best of luck.