As the Covid-19 vaccine becomes more available across the country, we are starting to see more and more local businesses opening back up. If it’s been almost a year since you have seen customers in person, there may be a lot to consider. Re-opening will mean a lot of different things depending on your type of business, however, there are a few things every business owner should be considering.
Give Your Business a Facelift
A year is a long time to go without seeing new customers. In that time, things about your business may have become stale. This could be anything from redesigning your website to the way your business looks to a customer. First, consider all of the other tips on our blog to make sure your website is up and running before you re-open and that you are following our basic principles of online marketing. Then, think about hiring a junk removal service to give your business a facelift and declutter any old stuff you may have. This type of service provides internal and external junk removal so your business can look great to the general public.
You can also likely use a refresh of marketing assets like business cards, flyers, invoice templates, etc. Make sure your business is ready to be re-opened for customers by contacting your preferred graphic designer.
Lean Operating Staff? Maybe It’s Time to Outsource
A lot of small businesses had to cut back their staff in the last year. While some businesses were able to stay afloat with PPE loans, others had to let people go unfortunately. Once you reach a point of ramping back up and re-opening, it’s in your best interest to outsource the tasks your former employees used to do. This is most likely bookkeeping services, IT services and any sort of operational services. You can easily send these tasks to a business that specializes in them, then consider re-hiring once your business is back to its normal operating level.
In the Restaurant Industry?
If you’re in the restaurant industry, you’ve experienced the worst of the pandemic with closures lasting most of 2020. However, if your business has managed to survive the closures, staff up and be prepared for oncoming crowds. It’s also important for your staff to update their RBS training licenses and you’ll need to renew your alcohol license (if you serve alcohol at your business).
In addition to your staff being prepared, you may want to also consider adding new items to your menu. People have been using DoorDash and GrubHub over the last year and it will be refreshing to see new menu items available to them.
Changing the Work From Home Culture
You are also likely to experience a shift in your staff’s behavior as you return to work. Many people across the country adopted the work-from-home lifestyle and it will likely be difficult for them to return to the normal levels of productivity. Remember to have patience with your employees and encourage them whenever you can. We all just survived a really rough year, so it’s important to be kind to everyone – employees and customers – as you re-open your business.
Staying Safe
Most important to this guide is staying safe while re-opening. You’ll want to continue to follow CDC guidelines for businesses re-opening and enforce safety policies for both your customers and employees.
Good luck!
