The Corona Virus crisis is having a terrible effect on many small and micro businesses.
How can your business survive extended lockdown, social distancing and hygiene requirements in a changed world?
The time has come to take stock and time to think in depth about your business.
Questions to ask yourself:
1. Are there ways you could conduct your business differently?
2. What would you need to do to ensure social distancing and hygiene requirements in continuing with your business?
3. Will your goods or services be relevant during and after the crisis?
4. Could you change the way you deliver your goods or services to current and future customers?
Now is the time to take your business online!
1. Domain name
Unless you already have a domain name registered for your business, you’ll need one to get your business website online.
A mistake often made is choosing one’s own name in conjunction with the goods or services offered. Although understandable, it could be a hinderance rather than a help. Think about the words or phrases an intended customer would use to search for a business, such as yours and then translate it into a domain name. We suggest registering your domain separately and not gain it through a website building company. Companies such as Tsohost or Nominet offer these services. You can search for your preferred names and find out whether they are still available for you to register.
2. Website
You can build your own website by using website builders, such as Wix, GoDaddy, Weebly, perhaps even Shopify.
All should offer you the ability to build an e-commerce area/booking facility for your site.
Once you are ready to publish your site, they should connect your registered domain.
The best out there is Wix. It has a great choice of amendable templates, picture and video resources, builds for desktop and mobile devices with good page loading speeds once the site is live.
Building your own effective website might not be as easy as you think.
Step into your intended customers shoes and consider what they would like to see and know to engage with your business.
Use the right colours, typefaces and do not overcrowd your pages.
Don’t show and tell but explain why your intended audience should consider your products or services. What challenges to they resolve for them
Don’t use a free hosting facility, as it will mean adverts etc. on your site and it just looks unprofessional and desperate.
Should you get stuck – simply contact us!
We’d be happy to help do all for you at very affordable prices and do it all for you.
3. Adapt your business for online
People need to be able to find your business online. It is important for you to set up your
‘Google My Business’ account. It will help your business to show up in search results and it is completely free.
Don’t forget to let your existing customers know that you have moved online! A great site to use to create email marketing is Mailchimp. Their free version allows for up to 2,000 contacts and has some basic templates, too!
4. Know your audience
There is currently much support for local businesses out there. So, it is a good time to engage with your current and future customers via social media. LinkedIn is great for business-to-business, Twitter is good for news & opinions and Instagram works well for showing off your physical products.
This blog post, written for rural businesses, offers many more tips of how to get it right
5. Most importantly - Be authentic with your audience
Your passion for what you do shines through, so make sure it’s the same online.
Inject your and your businesses personality into online text and social interactions. Remember, be yourself, people buy from people…
What's stopping you?