By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” – Benjamin Franklin
This article guides you with useful tips for startups to kick-start post-pandemic.
Agree on it or not, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a nightmare for all of us. The 2020 lockdown had a huge impact on small businesses. Even after a point when the Government removed the lockdown, businesses faced loss which has disrupted their livelihood as well.
It has not only disrupted our lives but has also been a very bad setback for businesses and startups. Many companies were forced to fire some of their employees due to a lack of funds. Because no one was prepared to face such a situation.
Hoping that the COVID-19 pandemic will end soon, we all would be going back to companies and resuming our work. Things might be a little overwhelming for you at the start. But take it as a lesson and save as much as you can right from the beginning.
Because anytime another emergency or crisis can come up and at that time your company should not face a loss again. So, prepare yourself for the worst scenarios. When it comes, you will be ready to face it. Always have plans B, C, D and E ready.
To guide you, in this article, we have mentioned –
5 Tips for Startups to Kick-Start Post Pandemic
1. Adapt to the Current Business Trend
Gone are the days when business trends changed every 7 to 10 years. We are in an era where business trends are changing every two years.
You can change fast only if you are light and lean. So, stop building heavy assets in your business. And when you are rebuilding your business after the pandemic makes sure that you are focusing on soft assets like brand, robust systems, processors and consumer insights.
2. Adopt a Positive and Empathetic Leadership
Having a positive attitude is much needed for business heads and leaders to kick-start their brand post-pandemic. Because your team needs you to lead with positivity. In the time of the crisis, it is very normal to feel like giving up, dejected and lost. As a team leader, you must make sure that your team members do not lose the hope to come and work again. It is your moral duty to pass on a positive attitude to your employees and make them believe that you are all in this together and the company is not going to quit but deal with it and come back stronger.
Communicate more with them and share with them your short-term goals. And explain to them what your next move is and involve them in the whole process. At this point in time, team members and customers need your guidance. So, communication helps to resolve some of the anxiety and bring clarity.
This tip is the most essential one which is always taken for granted. Following this will surely help you while you kick-start your startup post-pandemic.
3. Adopt a Digital-First Mantra
In this COVID-19 pandemic, most people have moved to digital media to make their purchases for obvious reasons. It’s because it is safer and consumers can find what they want from the comfort of their home. So, the first thing that you have to do is try to move your business to digital media.
Digital media plays a very important role in today’s world. That is where you can directly interact with your customers, know their queries and needs. And work on your marketing strategies according to that.
Making your presence online is the best gift you can give your company and employees. The best part about digital marketing channels is that you don’t have to spend much money. All you need is the right set of strategies to stay connected with your audience and to reach more people. You can do this by talking about your new product launches, a new coupon code and offers that have been released, and conduct giveaway contests.
The next important tip for startups to kick-start post-pandemic is Budgeting. Let’s have a look at that.
4. Plan Your Budget
Once you resume your work and start working again, you have to invest your money for the company before even making a profit. This might be challenging for you.
You might need new employees or you might have to buy new equipment or you might be in a place where you have to hire your employees who you had to cut down due to your financial crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, before starting your hiring process you have to decide your budget for the next six months. You have to plan and divide your expenses according to your budget and stick to that.
For that, you have to prioritise your requirements. So, for the first few months invest your money in things that are essential and try to cut down expenses as much as you can.
And the fifth tip for startups to kick-start post the COVID-19 pandemic will be assessing the damage that has been caused and reworking existing goals.
5. Assess the Damage
The first step is to assess the damage that has been caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And then you have to think of ways to come up with a plan to rebuild your business.
Starting by assessing your profit and loss statement and your cash flow. And then you should compare it with your previous sales and profit numbers. So obviously, your business and your profit rate would have decreased due to the pandemic. So you have to calculate the percentage of loss that has been caused. And then think of ways to resolve the immediate issues that need to be addressed.
Do whatever you can do to elongate your runway whether it is raising additional funds, cutting costs, taking on some debt. Go ahead and do so because you have another day to fight the crisis.
Do not concentrate on your long-term business goals for now. Make plans and short-term goals that you can achieve and then review your work, realign and start working.
You have to review and work on your goals and make changes to them according to the current situation. Not changing your mind and sticking to your big goals would not provide any solution or result. So break your long-term goals into short-term ones. Do not overwhelm yourself with your long-term goals and stress yourself out.
Conclusion
Every crisis comes with an opportunity. The shadow of the crisis will convert into the light.
All you need to do is trust your abilities and think of ways for repairing the damage and take one step at a time to get your company back to how it was before the crisis. Hope that the tips we have provided help you in your business.
If you need more guidance on bringing back your business on track. And if you want to know more about financial planning and expert advice.
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