*COVID-19 SPECIAL* – Keeping Going During Immense Change & Threat – Blog Series

 

How to Keep Going During Immense Change and Threat
(Blog Series)

Part 1 – Where to Start

The current COVID-19 situation is, unfortunately, a perfect example of
immense change and threat, which is impacting the entire world.
This isn’t purely health impacts, but impacts on businesses, mental health, and
how we socialise with others. Not only could it result in business closures on a massive scale but also a rise in domestic violence and bankruptcy rates.

It’s now, more than ever, important that you are planning for the present situation, and possible future scenarios, and changing your business model and processes, accordingly, ensuring your business systems are and remain, resilient.

You may be thinking, “Which processes should I change?”, or “What exactly are business models/systems?”, and that’s exactly what this blog series will help you understand. It gives you the information, tools, and resources you need, and be your go-to guide to change your business accordingly to cope with the present threat(s) to your business and future possible threats, and to find the opportunities within these threats.

It’s not just about how your business runs and copes, though, but also ensuring your staff feels respected, needed, valued, and can see you truly doing all you can to ensure they remain employed, through a higher level of staff interaction, communication, and genuine care.

Communication with, and genuine care for, your staff are so important because part of your job as an employer is to ensure your staff has a safe place to work and, now that the premises are probably their home, personal and business lives will interact and not be easily separated. This means you will have to delve somewhat into your employees’ personal lives to be certain your staff is working in a safe environment [their home] and not at-risk of any kind of abuse, harm, a threat to their health, or otherwise, whether it be physical, emotional, or psychological, from themselves or others in their environment.

In this blog series, we cover:

(click on the titles to view the PDF of each Part)

Part 1: Where to Start (this blog)
Part 2 – Preparing for a Crisis, Even After It Has Hit
Part 3 – Operating as a Remote Workplace and Preparing for Remote Work
Part 4 – Keeping Current Clients Happy
Part 5 – Recommended Business Tools
Part 6 – How to Choose the Right Video Conferencing Service
Part 7 – Useful Resources
Including Mental Health and Wellbeing / Parenting / Employment-Related / COVID-19 info.

For those of you that would prefer to get information
“straight from the horse’s mouth”, contact me to book a consultation.

I can offer a 60-minute consultation FREE to new clients or can discuss subsidies which may be available for existing clients, so don’t let finance concerns stop you from seeking advice; get the advice you need, NOW.
 
To take advantage of this offer you can give me a call
on 027 447 7577.

I look forward to helping you succeed!

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I Don’t Know Where to Start!

Start by making a cuppa, sitting down, taking a few deep breaths, and find a sense of calm. You can’t put your super business brain to good use when it’s stressed and trying to access everything you’ve ever learned! You need it to be calm to focus on the task at hand and understanding what you need to do so you can access those stored learning files specifically.

Better? Good. Now, it’s time to focus on the task at hand – how you, and your business, can keep going through this time of immense change and threat.

For many, this has meant a leap from the traditional brick and mortar store/office to working remotely from home. And, the reality that it’s not whipping off emails whilst binge-watching Netflix in your pyjamas in bed, and it’s certainly not a nice, dreamy, cruisy job like so many of us imagine. Working from home requires planning, excellent self-management, and team-management skills (if you’re an employer), and a whole lot more. Before we get into future planning and remote workplaces and whether you can become one, first you need to focus on the now and evaluate your business situation as it currently stands, by asking yourself things like:

• Do you, or will you, need financial support?
  To either wait-out the time until you can resume work, or to change your business model to become a remote workplace, and/or to amend your current offering(s) or create brand new offering(s)
• If so, where can you get this?
  The Government’s COVID-19 package? Work and Income? Your Financial Institution? Investors? Shareholders? Have a look at the Inland Revenue New Zealand website for all exemption, subsidy, and other help options available to New Zealander’s at this time
• What do/will you need it for?
  Consider the usual things like wages, but also other costs you may incur due to changing your business model and/or your service/product offering(s), such as branding changes (graphic design, etc costs), advertising changes and associated costs, operating expenses now that your business is being run from multiple, individual premises rather than one localised office, so you’ll need to consider things like increased stationery costs (as each staff member will need their own, rather than being able to share), increased utility costs (no more one monthly power or internet bill, you’ll need to work out a share for each staff member working from home), and so on.

 

Now that you’ve figured out what you need right now and have fewer things occupying that important entrepreneurial brain, let’s have a look at
Part 2 – Preparing for a Crisis, Even After It Has Hit

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Remember, to view the remaining parts of this series,
click on the headings under the “What’s in This Blog Series?” image.

Alternatively, you can download the entire series in a single PDF
by completing the form below!

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