Since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that COVID-19 is a pandemic disease, global financial analysts pointed out that the world is facing an unusual economic contraction and registering historic recession records. Business owners are struggling to keep the balance between prioritizing employees’ safety and keeping their businesses running.
The intensity of damage varies from one industry to another. Technology-based companies, for instance, were a bit more capable of containing the hits in supply chain and cash flows and minimizing their losses. While small- and medium-sized businesses that rely on on-ground operations fell short of handling the crisis.
However, maintaining a stable business environment amidst the state’s firm precautions is not an easy thing to do. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a lockdown in the country till the end of April. Lockdown includes the closure of schools, no jogging or dog-walking outside, no sales of alcohol or cigarettes, no leaving home except for emergency cases or you will have to pay heavy fines or go to prison or heavy fines for law-breaking.
“I have to ask you to make even greater sacrifices so that our country may survive this crisis and so that tens of thousands of lives may be saved,”
Ramaphosa Said
Our Recommended Tips to Keep Your Business Stable
So AfroLingo thought it’s the right time to provide you with some useful tips on how to stand resilient against the current crisis and survive amid the spread of coronavirus. A piece of general advice for the entire business community would be to keep the wheel spinning as much as possible. To achieve this, here are seven business tactics you should not overlook:
1. Modify Your Business Plans
Revisit your 2020’s business plans and easy on yourself! It is okay to modify your strategic objectives and budget allocations as per the new changes we are all going through. You are also highly recommended to cut or postpone as many costs as you can and look for extra sources of revenue. Additionally, why not restore your old and halted projects?
2. Enact Your Crisis Management Plans
Challenges can turn into opportunities when confronted with adequate crisis management practices. It is time for your risk management and emergency preparation strategies to pay off. It is now or never that you keep the trust of your employees and clients alike by finding proper alternatives for your traditional revenue streams and business routines.
3. Allow Remote Work and Leverage Technology
If your business tasks can be done remotely, then allowing your employees to work from home can be a very good option. Online tools and cloud-based applications have made things much easier when it comes to remote task management or communication. Many companies are already familiar with work-from-home policies and it would not be difficult to replace face-to-face meetings with video conferences as long as other business tasks can be managed remotely.
4. Think Digitally
Just as digital tools have facilitated distant working, you can use a suite of project management and customer relation management (CRM) technologies to maintain your external business activities. Avoid cutting off the running marketing and sales operations and keep in touch with your clients through digital platforms.
5. Bet on Customer Care
No matter the industry or the size of your business, your clients will stay loyal to your company if they get professional customer care. Think long-term; retaining your satisfied customers’ trust in the time of crisis is a winning bet, and will most probably reap numerous benefits to your business when the crisis is gone.
6. Keep your employees in the loop
Your employees are your most important asset and their health comes atop your business priorities. Spare no efforts to keep your staff safe and make sure you update them regularly on the status of your business. It is a perfect opportunity that you make your employees develop a sense of ownership toward your business so they will keep loyal forever and never let you down.
7. Take Advantage of Your Governmental Aids
Governments all around the world are offering various types of facilitation to help companies survive the pandemic, and you need to take advantage of this. In South Africa, the government has introduced a series of measures;
- Buffering the economic effects of the lockdown, including a solidarity fund to help small businesses.
- Pledging about SAR 3.8 billion in direct financial support to distressed firms and affected workers, and another SAR 8 billion in tax subsidies (through forgone tax revenue).
Based in the heart of Johannesburg since 2008, AfroLingo has decided to allow all its employees to work from home as of the early days of the Coronavirus spread. Backed by a set of powerful digital tools, we managed to maintain high levels of efficiency and productivity with high hopes that the company will get over this crisis with the minimum loss.
AfroLingo translation and localization agency wishes everyone good health and highly advises you to abide by the WHO’s safety guidelines to eliminate the spread of the novel virus. This, too, shall pass, and may all your businesses survive this disaster at the lowest cost. Stay home, adhere to the social distancing instructions, and don’t forget to give your hands a good wash!
