Now that vaccinations are well on their way and restrictions are beginning to lift, it’s time to shift your mindset from surviving, to thriving! Business owners over the past year have had to adapt to many unknowns, with their focus being on how they would survive the pandemic. Now that the end is in sight, the key to success will come from effectively shifting to a mindset of recovery. Here are some ways you, as an entrepreneur, can begin to imagine your recovery journey!
Follow a Roadmap
It’s important to assess the unique opportunities your business faces. To kickstart the recovery phase, we recommend starting with a strong framework where you identify what you need to focus on first, and then which following actions are most relevant.
The Small Business Roadmap for Recovery & Beyond: Workbook from Deloitte is a helpful resource to guide you through the various stages of recovery including:
Reflect- help get your business up to speed with what’s changed
Restart- mobilise what you can already control
Revitalise- understand opportunities for growth in the future
Image by Deloitte
Meet Customers Where They’re At
Just because things are moving slightly back to normal, doesn’t mean that you can’t continue providing value in the new ways you adapted your business for COVID-19. The work you put into pivoting during the pandemic doesn’t have to go to waste—maintain curbside pickup, continue takeout dining, offer livestream classes, etc.
We’re all feeling a little bit hesitant, so reassure your customers that their safety is your priority. Continue offering things that allow for ultimate accessibility, like remote work or recording webinars. Some people may not be ready to jump right back into the swing of things, so they will appreciate that these modifications are still in place.
Build Contingency Plans
We now know just how quickly everything can change. You don’t have to start planning for the next pandemic, but it never hurts to have a plan in case an unforeseen event arises and affects your business operations again. If something were to happen and your business couldn’t operate how it normally would, what would you do?
Financially, this could look like adjusting your non-essential spending or having more of a proactive approach to paying off debt in order to build up your savings. From a culture perspective, maybe the option for employees to work remotely is part of your business model going forward. The more you can do now to prepare, the better!
Prioritize Digital Transformation
“Digital interaction with B2B customers is now two times more important than traditional channels—more than a 30 percent jump since before the COVID-19 crisis hit.” - McKinsey B2B Decision Maker Pulse Survey
While COVID-19 accelerated the pace of the digital era, it doesn’t show signs of slowing anytime soon. For many companies, the only option to survive the pandemic was to transform their digital presence, and companies that were already more advanced in their digital operations had a head start.
In this day and age, staying on top of digital trends and acting early is what will elevate your business and help you adapt quickly, in any circumstance. AWE’s Bold Leadership program is a great program for established women entrepreneurs who are ready to look at their business through a digital lens..
Support One Another
We got through this together, we’ll continue to get through this together. Revived optimism has taken hold of many entrepreneurs and we really should be proud of how our communities have responded and adapted to so much uncertainty. Continue to support local businesses, continue to be understanding and patient and do whatever you can to lend a helping hand in a time of need. If there’s one thing we’ve learned through this all, it’s just how powerful supporting each other can be!
We got through this together, we’ll continue to get through this together. Revived optimism has taken hold of many entrepreneurs and we really should be proud of how our communities have responded and adapted to so much uncertainty. Continue to support local businesses, continue to be understanding and patient and do whatever you can to lend a helping hand in a time of need. If there’s one thing we’ve learned through this all, it’s just how powerful supporting each other can be!
We all just survived something incredibly traumatic that will take time and effort to recover from. The resilience of women entrepreneurs in Alberta is truly inspiring and we know it’s going to take courage to have hope for the future. You have proven that you can persevere through the hardest of times and you now have the experience and tools to handle anything. You’ve survived and now it’s time to thrive!
