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How To Handle A Loss Of Revenue Due To COVID-19
(This is a contributed post)
Who’d have thought that a virus would cause so much global economic disruption? Hundreds of thousands of people across the globe are suffering from the coronavirus right now. The numbers continue to rise, and this is bad news for business. If you’re reading this, then your company may have either closed or been forced to take a significant revenue hit. Either way, you’re struggling to make anywhere near as much money as you’re used to.
So, how do you handle a loss of revenue due to this terrible situation? It’s got a great situation to find yourself in, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. You have to keep telling yourself that this will be a temporary measure and the way you handle things now will impact how successful you are in the future.
Thankfully, there are some measures you can take to ensure your company isn’t as severely hit by this crisis as others sadly are:
Re-assess your marketing budget
Firstly, look at where a lot of your money gets spent. Most businesses have sizable marketing budgets with money going on lots of different techniques and ideas. Realistically, a lot of your marketing plan is useless right now. If people can’t physically come to your premises, then what’s the point in trying to advertise it? Things like billboards or bus stop adverts are a waste of money as they’re hardly going to be seen by anyone.
Instead, save money by not wasting it on marketing or advertising ideas that serve no purpose in this climate. Re-assess your budget and spend money on the things that will be effective. Focus on improving your SEO, for example. You may be unable to sell your products/services, but that doesn’t mean you can’t increase brand awareness. SEO helps you do this while also preparing you for life after the coronavirus lockdown. You can take money away from other marketing strategies and divert it to your SEO while still saving money overall.
Consider letting go of some employees
Ideally, you can hold onto all of your employees and keep paying their wages. Unfortunately, many small businesses are unable to do this. So, you have the sad decision of cutting wages or letting go of some employees entirely.
It’s not a decision to take lightly, and you should only really do this if there’s no other way for your business to stay afloat. Sadly, employee costs take up a significant chunk of your expenses. When the income dries up, then you struggle to meet all of these costs. If you do get rid of a couple of employees, then be sure to set them up with outplacement services and redundancy support. This is the least you can do to ensure that they’re set up to try and find another job when possible and that they have some sort of support during this difficult time. Again, you don’t want to make this decision, but it might be the only viable option based on your finances.
Look for government support
Depending on where you’re reading this from, your government may provide you with some sort of financial support during this period. Most countries are offering grants or some type of finance package to help small businesses continue to stay afloat. You should check out your government website or social media pages to find out what’s on offer for you and how you can apply for it.
Explore secondary income sources
If your primary source of income has dried up, then try opening up various secondary channels during this tricky time. A good example of this is for your business to start a blog. You should already have one on your website, but you can now make money from it.
With more free time on your hands, you can produce regular articles that your audience is keen to read. This could include tips, tricks, guides, and so on. By monetizing the blog, you make money when people read it. Explore other secondary income source ideas as well to keep your money ticking over.
Work remotely
Lastly, you may need to work remotely to keep costs down during this virus. If you can still operate and provide your service, then doing so from home reduces all your ongoing office costs. It keeps your expenses low while ensuring you still manage to work.
On that note, you should be in a more commanding position to handle a loss of revenue during this outbreak. It won’t be easy, but you can put plans in motion to limit the damage and come out of this on top.
