Businesses are suffering in a way we never imagined. Even the best run family operations wouldn’t have contingencies that addressed an eight-month virus related shutdown that forced customers away from your business.
They’re taking on the additional expense in materials and labor to keep facilities and staffs and customers safe. Crushing blows weekly, if not daily, on recommendations without guidance or rules, some politicized, which make the stress nearly impossible.
Not to mention the toll on loyal employees and their families and the communities supported by these businesses. Some folks’ life savings and family legacies are gone, leaving soon or on the line.
Owners that have survived to this point have pivoted so many times I bet their hips hurt. And here we are at the holidays where, in a normal year, they’d finally be making a profit for the year.
It’s a safe bet to say that many many more small businesses will close right before our eyes.
Are there still strategies left that address survival? I suspect there are owners who wish they’d kept information about their best customers so they could direct campaigns to get them back.
I’m certain owners are re-thinking what exceptional customer service means to their business since repeat business is where profit is made.
