5 Tips to Restart Your Business in a Post COVID 19 World

4 min readApr 28, 2020

This is a photo of Front Street in downtown Wilmington at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 17, 2020.

The COVID 19 has been a serious human tragedy and has impacted the lives of billions of people globally. Our physical, mental and emotional health has been significantly challenged and were starting to put the pieces back together.

The United States has 30.2 million small businesses representing more than 99% of the total businesses in the country. COVID 19 has disproportionately impacted small business. With less than 16% of the $2.2 trillion dollar CARES ACT ($349 billion)allocated for small business, over 80% of small business are operating without stimulus and high levels of uncertainty.

This blog will highlight 5 strategies for small businesses to deploy in order to adapt to the post COVID 19 social and business environment.

Local businesses in downtown Wilmington had to rapidly adapt in order to maintain business operations during the COVID 19 shutdown.

Increase online marketing and engagement. Communicate directly with existing/new customers.

A comprehensive social media strategy is critical now and for the balance of the COVID 19 response. Social media platforms such as Whats App, Instagram and Facebook have documented 40% increase in traffic on there platforms https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/26/report-whatsapp-has-seen-a-40-increase-in-usage-due-to-covid-19-pandemic/. Interact with your audience through Facebook Live, Instagram Live or Zoom. Ask for feedback, host contest or challenges to inspire followers and most importantly ask how can you improve your product or service. Remember to share and be honest with your customers. The last several weeks have proven that customers are your community.

2. Pivot to online sales and modify your business to support that.

Even when things open up, restrictions will follow so prepare your business to support online sales and distribution. Now is the time to adapt, create and innovate. Develop new products and services that you can sale and distribute based on your online presence. If you are a restaurant, modify your operations to support takeout and spend time embracing social media (Yelp, IG, Facebook, Snapchat) to gain customers. Others can create digital products based on intellectual property https://www.shopify.com/blog/digital-products.

Genesis Block workshop on market research and product market fit with a group of local entrepreneurs and small business owners.

3. Develop a short term operational and financial plan.

The COVID 19 response is constantly evolving so you must adjust your business to become flexible to change and practice agility in this environment. Plan in increments for the next 30, 60, 90 days with the focus on executing a short term strategy. Partner with business people, your internal team and financial planners to discuss financing options and access to capital.

4. Network, Network and more Networking. Build your support ecosystem.

Connect with other businesses in your industry especially in your local area to build relationships. Networking is actually about building long-term relationships and a good reputation over time. With the possibility of challenges in the post COVID 19 environment, it is important to build an ecosystem of support. Attend virtual meet ups, webinars, Zoom business networking events and virtual community meetings to expand your profile with a broader group of individuals.

5. Plan to return to a “NEW” normal.

Plan for significant adjustments to guidelines regarding operational policy and procedure from policymakers for businesses. As the country begins the process of reopening, the public safety will be high priority and compliance measures will become part of the “new” normal. Plan for fluctuations in customer demand because the business environment may not be steady. Almost 25 million Americans are unemployed and small businesses are challenged so demand could be negatively impacted. The operational requirements will now focus on making sure your business is safe for customers and demand will correlate with your business creating a safe environment. There will probably be a surge in some sectors, (barbershops, salons, apparel) so analyze your current supply chain sustainability to ensure your business can operate effectively.