COVID-19 Resources and Business Continuity

With lockdowns and business closures caused by COVID-19 we’ve been having a lot of conversations with clients recently.

We’ve been talking with clients about either developing or improving their online presence.

But conversations have been deeper than that recently. Business owners don’t know what’s going to happen next. There’s a fair bit of anxiety.

If you’re lucky, your business may not be financially devastated due to COVID-19. But it will be impacted. Your business will change. The way you communicate will change. The way your teams work together will change. The way you market and sell your services will have to change. I don’t think you can ever assume that your business will go back to normal. There is no normal.

Given our conversations with clients, we thought we’d create this COVID-19 resource for our clients and prospects. This guide is constantly evolving so you may want to consider bookmarking this page as we do intend to update it as new information comes to light.

Many businesses are wondering what to do right now.

So first we thought we’d start with some general tips that we can share with you. Here is some advice we think all clients need to hear.

There’s never been a better time to update your technology. You need the right technology to serve your clients in these unprecedented times. We may all be physically isolated but it’s time we’re socially connected and the only way we can do that right now is through digital means.

You need to find a way to sell your products and services online. This could be through upgrading your own website but you might also want to ensure you are listing products and services on other platforms like Amazon, Ebay, Facebook Marketplace and the like.

You need to look at all your costs. If you can reduce costs you should but remember that value matters.

You need to market your business. Now, more than ever. If you are not marketing your business then you won’t get any of the slice of revenue available in your industry. Don’t stop communicating. Even if you are taking an extended holiday you need to let your clients know that you will be back. If you’re offering is going to change then you need to make sure your customers know.

Here are some more recommendations for your business. Here’s how we can help directly.

Most impacted businesses – How we can help.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – with no foot traffic, people are searching online. If they are searching for your product or service, will they find your business?

Website updates you’ve been putting off – Your website matters. First impressions count. Make sure you have a quality website to ensure that your clients have a quality experience when visiting your website

Social Media – People are spending more time on social media platforms whilst they are stuck at home. Like I mentioned above, you should never stop communicating. You need to make sure that your clients know what is going on with you and your business.

Industries likely to Survive and Thrive – How we can help

– Updating your website regularly as COVID-19 limits change your situation. Ensuring clients know of any relevant changes to how you run your business regularly.

– Community Building and Social Media – managing mutiple social media channels and creating regular content – ensuring your customers know you are still in business and ready to serve them.

– Developing your ecommerce capacity so that you can sell online.

– We’d love to offer you a no-obligation digital marketing chat. We’d love to share with you some tips you can implement straight away. We’ll also work out if there’s a way we can work together.

– We’re all in this together and if businesses work together we can all come out the other side.

Here are the services we can help with directly

Web Design
SEO
Digital Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Copywriting

We can introduce you to experts in the following industries:

Telecommunications
Finance
Insurance
Accounting
Bookkeeping

Now is also a more important time than ever for you to keep networking. COVID-19 means that most face to face networking is not happening. I can introduce you to a team of business owners from the Mornington Peninsula who meet weekly for the sole purpose of referring business to each other. Let me know if you would like an invitation. I can also introduce you to others who can introduce you to hundreds of business owners across Metropolitan Melbourne if that is where your target market is.

Here are some links to some of the various Government Resources that are available:

Australian Government Resources

Australian Government Department of Health; Coronavirus (COVID-19) current situation and case numbers https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers#in-australia

Australian Government Business (business.gov.au) Coronavirus information and support for business› JobKeeper Payment for employers and employees

https://www.business.gov.au/risk-management/emergency-management/coronavirus-information-and-support-for-business/jobkeeper-payment

Australian Government Department of Social Services » COVID-19 Information and Support for individuals and families

https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-department/coronavirus-covid-19-information-and-support#fre

Victorian Government Resources

Business Victoria; Coronavirus business support – including a Business Support Fund with one-off $10,000 grant https://www.business.vic.gov.au/support-for-your-business/grants-and-assistance/business-support-fund

Local Government Resources (I’ve shared resources from my local council area but if you searched for your local Council they’d likely have a similar page.)

Mornington Peninsula Shire Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information & contacts

https://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Community-Services/Health-Wellbeing/Community-Health-Wellbeing/Coronavirus?preview=637199733352276910

Business Support

SEN 1116 Grants in lots of $5000 for a radio advertising campaign Website

https://www.sen.com.au/grants/

Facebook Small Business Grants programme

https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants?__tn__=-UK*F

COVID-19: Ad credits for Google Ads Small and Medium-sized Businesses

https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9803410?hl=en

If you know me and you’re reading this and you’re struggling, please reach out. I really do want to hear from you and help in any way that I can.

If you’ve come across this resource and we aren’t friends yet there is help available to you.

Please call Lifeline on 131114.