3 ways for small businesses to thrive during COVID-19
We at Distillery Creative are a small business, many of our clients own small businesses, we understand the toll that COVID- 19 is taking on small businesses. We feel extraordinarily blessed to be an online-based business where all of our employees have been working from their homes from around the world for the last 7 years. Because we have developed such a strong online business model, where our employees meet up online rather than around the conference table, we are staying busy with ongoing work and able to keep our employees employed.
We know not all small businesses are able to be completely online, however, we’ve been brainstorming ideas to help our clients stay afloat and successful during these trying times. If you own a small business and are struggling to stay afloat during these times, we have brainstormed some ideas to hopefully get you started in keeping your business thriving!
- Online Store
For our small business friends who sell physical products, we urge you to put your products online. Several people, whom we know have just brick and mortar shops and have already had to lay off employees during these trying times. Convert your inventory online!Start with just 10 products. Select the products that make you the most money and let’s get those up on your website. Start small and add products slowly. By adding an online store you can offset the loss of sales you may be experiencing during this time.Set up your store using WooCommerce or Shopify. Not sure where to start? Start by picking your eCommerce platform. We recommend WooCommerce or Shopify. Connect with Shipstation to handle your shipping. Here are the major differences between Shopify and WooCommerce. Shopify is a paid plugin, prices range from $29 to $299 a month. Shopify allows you to access more custom reports and analytics. WooCommerce is free but requires that you have your own hosting, domain name, and SSL security. It is way more customizable than Shopify and is the option we build for our clients.
- Online Classes
If you are a service-based industry, and not selling physical products, now might be a great time to build some residual income streams into your business structure. Online courses that your clients can pay for may be a great way to expand your customer base and serve clients online while you can’t meet in person. Anyone from a tax planner to an artist can provide courses to teach people online how to do what you do. We aren’t saying give away all of the secrets that make your business or skill sets unique, simply give people some tools to allow them to understand what goes into running a business like yours. Check out the popularity of sites like Udemy or skillshare. This may be the perfect time to expand your business into an online course that brings in some residual income that can generate revenue for you without having to lift a finger once your course is launched. - Online coaching, consulting
Right now while we have “Stay in Orders,” staying connected with your customers is key. In the past few weeks, we have set up several doctors with Telemedicine practice so they can still see patients without having to see them in person. The hope is that it will stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect patients as well as the medical staff. If you are a doctor you can practice telemedicine. Many of our clients have asked us to set up telemedicine pages for them. With the medical industry, you will need to have a way for patients to upload their health records that is HIPAA compliant. We recommend several electronic Health Records (EHR).
Many businesses can offer online consultation services. Lawyers consulting clients, engineers solving problems and actively showing solutions. Setting up a consultation portal where you can schedule your clients out on a calendar, meet them over video chat, provide tools and services online rather than in person can be another source of income and innovation to your business.
Your small business doesn’t have to suffer during this time, it can thrive and you might be able to build in new revenue streams for the future that can serve your business better in the long term. What other online-based services can you think of that may be specific to your industry? Let us know by commenting below or sending us an email. We are ready to help you and your small business start thriving during COVID-19. Contact us today and let us know how we can help!