Has the COVID-19 Pandemic affected your business?
Has it made you look at your expenditures and reluctantly dip into your savings? Has it made you change the way you operate your business?
At the time of writing this, we are heading into the second week of lockdown. Hopefully, by the time of reading, it will have passed, and we will all be back in the van earning some money again.
But what have we learnt from the unimaginable?
We have learned that building a larger business with weak foundations is more likely to end with it toppling over. Also, every business, business owner and their family are different from the next, and some can weather the storm better than others.
Your moral compass
You will have noticed that some business will have taken the governments advice to stay at home at an early stage of the lockdown while others carried on working, as safe as possible.
Because of government policies, some businesses felt forced to work to support their families. At the same time, some looked at the opportunity to earn with less competition and increased urgency from the public.
There is no right or wrong for those who want to help the public.
Helping that young family with kids, the old lady across the street, or that “key worker” needing hot water, for those engineers and businesses that have helped the public, you have been heroes to them and their families at an extremely worrying time.
Time, Money and Knowledge
How we adapt in a moment of crisis is based on the three most essential resources available to us: Time, Money, and Knowledge.
Before the outbreak, most people you asked were struggling with time. Every waking hour was filled to the brim with self-inflicted “Busyness,” chasing more and more work, yet they were often too busy to invest time in improving their long-term finances!
With the summer months around the corner and the financial after-shock of COVID-19 set to slow the market for non-essential work, many of us will find much more time available than we are used to having in our busy lives.
With the summer months around the corner and the financial after-shock of COVID-19 set to slow the market for non-essential work, many of us will find much more time available than we are used to having in our busy lives.
No matter what your bank statement is currently showing, we all have had to make cuts to ensure that the cash in the bank lasts that little bit longer.
We will all be asking the same question
“how and where can we get more money?”
If you are one of the businesses with smaller outgoings and substantial cash reserves, you can afford more time to answer this question.
The Profit First Day
Those who have read Mike Michalowicz’s book Profit First will nod their heads as you read this. Now more than ever, Mike’s business classic is even more essential reading in 2020 for the survival of small businesses. I encourage you to open up the calendar/diary and pencil in a monthly Profit First day.
After reading/listening to the book, use your monthly “Profit first day” to assess your financial situation, trim costs, research and negotiate for better supplies, and analyse other essential data throughout your business. You are now taking a full day out every month to crunch numbers, making your business leaner, more profitable, and built to last.
Knowledge gives you options
The COVID-19 outbreak will probably be the last straw for many businesses from many different industries. Yet those that quickly adapt and change will thrive in the coming months and years. What extra time we invest now in learning and, more importantly, in implementation will pay back higher profits in the future. The knowledge might even open up a brand source of income, giving you more options for your family’s future!
So, how will you adapt? What are you going to change?
Will you change the type of customers that you serve?
Will you change the type of services that you offer?
If so, how will you market your business in a changing industry?
Will you focus all resources on your business?
Will you place some eggs in other baskets?
How will you invest your Time, Money and Knowledge?
Next Month
We will be looking at Customer types, groups and personas, and what they “really” want. We will help you understand your own Five Star Customers and build a business that focuses on serving those people and declining all the rest.
Joining The Boiler Business Community
For friendly advice and business chat with over 1,000 fellow engineers, search Facebook for “The boiler business community.”
Tom Lee-Zmuda
Hey buddy. My name is Tom, a former heating engineer turned marketing Jedi. My team and I specialise in helping local HVAC and Solar business owners dominate Google and sell their most profitable services. We are committed to building the best ROI through local SEO, kick-ass websites & sales communications that attract, sell and keep your best five-star customers.
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