Adapting Your Business for Lockdown

TAGS FUNCTIONALITY

Some of the ways we’ve helped clients adjust to COVID19, and useful advice if your business has been impacted.

It’s been said a lot, but these are genuinely unprecedented times. It’s almost unbelievable that in 2020, half the world’s population is in lock down. Without wanting to reduce the devastating effect this coronavirus has had one many people's lives, it’s also had a tremendous impact on business.

All change!

As a small and agile team, we’ve been able to help our clients spin up mini-sites, adapt some of their businesses for a socially distanced audience, and even offer new services that help their communities.

Times like this do remind us how valuable a flexible bespoke system can be. We’ve been able to say ‘yes’ to all new functionality our clients have needed, which is so rewarding and encouraging, and we love knowing we’re helping make a difference.

If you’ve been following our social media, you’ll know we’ve recently launched Keyworker Volunteer (by People Source). This service aims to put NHS trusts and organisations directly in touch with IT experts who can volunteer, and put their skills to great use where existing resources might be running thin.

We also caught up with Patrick from Beringer Tame, he’s making waves in digital and marketing circles as he’s temporarily downing tools to match out of work digital/marketing freelancers and contractors with interim placements *for free*. We worked quickly to spin up Patricks-List to help with the admin work involved.

Keyworker Volunteer and Patricks List are doing amazing work, please share these if you know anyone who might benefit.

And in other news, Mini Athletics are offering their pre-school to junior school athletes online lessons instead. Now their mini athletes are able to stay active, and even stay social with coaches being able to hold live and interactive classes over the internet.

We’re also working with Bluetown Online to integrate some fantastic video interviewing features. We’ve been developing and testing it this week, and we’re looking forward to enabling Bluetown’s clients with recruiting – it’s not all bad news!

There are some really exciting things in the pipeline for 606 Club too – we don’t want to give anything away yet, but this iconic Jazz venue has been around since 1976 and the lockdown is not stopping them!

Enough about us, what can you do?

First of all, don’t panic. If you’re still in that phase, that’s fine. Take time, enjoy the weather, look after yourself and stay in touch with the people who matter – even if it is only on the phone/video chat. When you’re ready, focus on the things you can change.

You know your business inside and out, you know your customers. Have your customers needs changed, and are there things your business, your website or system can help them solve? What resources do you have that can be slightly adapted to help with that?

It might help you to write down a small list of problems in your industry, temporarily created by the current climate. Can you find a solution for any of them that you can offer?

There are so many things a website can automate, there are also an enormous number of online software services that be used or integrated with to allow you to interact with customers differently.

If you operate a cafe/restaurant, can you use your site and social media profiles to drum up a temporary delivery business, perhaps supply and deliver food boxes, or set-up a temporary boutique supermarket?

How much of your face to face business can be continued with video delivery?

Perhaps in person lessons can be continued with a combination of video, or online learning courses – even including delivering materials in advance. We’ve seen some enterprising companies delivering ingredients and recipes, pottery painting supplies to customers who would love to be able to continue their classes.

If not, your best bet is getting yourself as ready as possible to get off to a flying start when you can re-open fully – focus on that now. You can make steps now to improve or streamline processes or workflows, get marketing ready, or see what you can do now that will benefit your business and team later.

Need a hand?

If there's anything we can do to help, feel free to get in touch.