Across the country, some businesses have been shut down since mid-March while others have only recently reopened due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. For businesses that remained open, lack of consumer confidence or government mandates has required drastic changes to service models. Restaurants, for example, had to adapt to a take-out or drive-thru model only practically overnight. Regardless of your specific situation, you may feel a mix of anxiety and hope as most states inch closer to a reopen date if it hasn’t happened already.
Businesses Must Embrace Resilience to Recover
The Merriam-Webster dictionary provides two definitions of resilience, each of which applies to the coronavirus situation. The first is “capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture.” It also adds “tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” While the business shutdowns and model changes have certainly been a shock, the steps described below can help companies recover as quickly as possible.
The Four-Step Model to Business Recovery
In response to the massive business disruption already evident by the end of March, Forbes Magazine published an article outlining four steps business owners can take to recover. These are as follows:
- Deconstruction: The Business Model Canvas applies to companies that operate in a traditional manner. Its nine elements are channel, costs, customer relationship, customer segment, key activities, key partners, key resources, revenues, and value proposition. You should have a good understanding of each of these unique business segments before moving onto the next step.
- Imagination: None of the above elements will look the same after the coronavirus pandemic than they did before it. That means a good brainstorming session is in order. Gather a group of employees and business associates, remotely if necessary, and create several alternatives for each business element.
- Testing: Using the ideas generated from brainstorming, it’s time to test alternatives to the nine business elements by interviewing customers. This should be direct communication via email, text, or a phone call to avoid spending money at a time when funds are already tight. Asking customers to consider the issues they might face at the end of the pandemic helps to create a proactive mindset to solve those problems before they even occur.
- Create prototypes: The final phase of business recovery involves the creation of simplified products or services that your company makes available to customers. Since these new products aim to solve a problem your customers already identified, you may see a higher than average purchase rate from the initial offering.
Resiliency is the Bottom Line
You probably would have never volunteered to face such an enormous crisis as a business owner. Now that the pandemic is here, however, you must choose resiliency and reinvent to meet the demands of a changing world. It’s a tall order, but you don’t need to go it alone. Capital Business Strategies is here to help no matter where you’re at with your reopen or reinvention strategy. Please contact us today to request a meeting with one of our experienced business advisors.