Three Major Ways COVID-19 Impacts Your Business
You don’t have to turn on your television to see the impact of COVID-19; simply go for a drive and you’ll see the “closed” sign in business windows. In light of COVID-19, companies everywhere are looking for ways to flip their closed sign back to open. The key is to understand how this situation impacts various aspects of your business, and to learn from it so you can bring in profit and ensure business continuity in the future.
What is the Impact to Your Customers?
When customers face a disaster or crisis, their priorities change. What was once important may no longer seem essential. Your customers will be more cautious about how they spend their money and will only maintain or seek out the necessities. It’s important to understand where your product or service lands on your customers’ list of priorities. If you are seen as essential, you need to make sure you’re able to continue to deliver for your customers. If not, take a look at your capabilities and see if there’s something you can reposition to help them through this tough time. Depending on the customer’s ability to buy, you’ll need to take into account the potential of having to scale back your resources to lower overall costs.
What is the Impact on Your Workforce?
In the wake of COVID-19, we’ve seen many businesses reallocate some or all of their staff to a mobile workforce. This would also be the case if your business was ever impacted by a fire, flood or any natural disaster that might displace your staff for an extended period of time. The key to a successful remote workforce is the ease of accessibility matched with security. Even before COVID-19, remote access was an accessible entry-point for cybercriminals. Business owners need to make sure they have the right technology in place to monitor remote access and keep out malicious users.
What is the Impact on Your Revenue Stream?
According to Gartner, the average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 a minute. How long can your systems be down until you reach an unrecoverable amount of revenue loss? In regards to COVID-19, businesses are facing tough numbers. Many are counting down to how long they can continue to pay their employees with their door closed, while others have seen a significant number of layoffs. The sooner a company can get back to work, the faster they can regain revenue and keep its people and business afloat.
The Impact of a Business Continuity Plan
Having a business continuity plan in place creates a safety net for business owners. It helps businesses get back to “normal” as quickly as possible in many different worst-case scenarios. It ensures you have the proper technology in place to maintain operations, keep your people productive and service your customers. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you implement a business continuity plan, or discuss other services that can help you during tough times, please contact us.
