The Covid-19 pandemic changed the world as we know it. Although the pandemic is collectively regarded as over in most of the world, we can still feel its effects today. As business and regulations fluctuated rapidly during the pandemic, owners simply did whatever was necessary to remain open.
While this may have worked at the time, creating a post-covid business strategy is key for long-term success. It’s time to reevaluate, innovate, and evolve. Here are the top strategies to help your business thrive in a post-Covid world.
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The Main Ways the Covid-19 Pandemic Affected the Business World
As you undoubtedly know, the pandemic changed the way people shop and the way businesses provide goods and services. Here are some of the lasting changes that the pandemic has made on the business landscape:
- Customers spend more money than ever online.
- Shoppers now want to engage with your brand on a wider variety of channels.
- Customers demand a lower-touch experience with more self-service options.
- Businesses of all kinds, including banks, healthcare providers, and restaurants, have learned to rely on innovations in technology to serve customers in an increasingly digital landscape.
- Supply chain disruptions caused businesses to seek out more manufacturers to avoid future troubles.
- Employees expect more remote work options with better pay, leading to a labor shortage.
Is Covid Still Affecting Businesses?
Although Covid is “over,” businesses are still feeling its effects in everyday life. The supply chain remains unstable, with manufacturers around the world still occasionally shutting down due to Covid outbreaks. Some businesses don’t receive their orders or must wait during long delays, which creates extensive financial stress.
On the same note, many businesses are still dealing with a strain on their finances as they struggle to bounce back. In a Sealions study of 5,800 health and wellness brands, the average company had just two weeks' worth of cash on hand.
Businesses have had a difficult time getting back to pre-pandemic success as they must still deal with changing regulations. Plus, sick employees must now quarantine for days or even weeks to avoid getting others sick. Additionally, some shoppers still fear the virus and prefer to stay home, meaning there are fewer customers to sell to in stores.
6 Ways to Run a Strong Business Post Covid
1. Zero In On Big Money Makers
As the world of business remains inconsistent, it’s important to find ways to get lean and save money. For many businesses, creating new products that may or may not do well is a drain on funds. Ultimately, your customers likely return to you because of a handful of things you do well.
So, take a look at your business and determine what the biggest revenue drivers are for your business. What products have the best profit margin? What are your top sellers?
With that in mind, determine how you can maximize those money-makers. Is it possible to lower manufacturing costs? Can you market to your customers and get them to buy more? Can you incentivize your best customers to leave a review or refer a friend? Meanwhile, you might choose to stop funding products that aren’t performing as well and use that money elsewhere.
2. Reevaluate Your Target Market
As a business owner, you know the importance of staying up-to-date with your customers’ needs and preferences. You likely already study analytics, but it’s important to take a step back and reevaluate your target market overall.
How did your customer base change during the pandemic? With that in mind, you can adjust your products, services, and customer support to meet their preferences.
For example, according to the 2022 Digital-First Customer Experience Report, 81% of customers say they want more self-service options. Meanwhile, only 15% say they’re highly satisfied with the tools available today. If your target market falls into the majority of people who prefer self-service options, it might be time to revamp your offering.
3. Utilize Helpful Technology
As we face staffing shortages and limited finances, technology can help fill in the gaps. Innovations in technology and new software can help ease employee workload and boost sales.
For example, you might purchase a new CRM (customer relationship management) software to better manage your sales team and customers. Or, you might invest in automation to reduce manual billing work. If you sell a high-ticket item online, like furniture, it might be worthwhile to invest in AR (augmented reality) so shoppers can see your product in their own space.
4. Get Lean with Marketing
Marketing is a critical function of your business as it serves to bring in new customers and build customer loyalty. While an omnichannel or multichannel marketing strategy can be incredibly effective, it’s also not in every business’s budget. Instead, focus on one or two channels.
There are a couple of options to choose from, depending on your target market and budget:
- Email marketing: Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing tools, with a 36% return on investment. Still, email marketing takes a lot of trial and error to build your subscriber list and increase open rates, so you may need to invest in expert help.
- Social media marketing: If your audience spends time on social media and you have a small marketing budget, this could be a highly effective method of getting new customers. You can get in front of many customers, but you’ll likely spend a lot of time creating content, researching trends, and engaging with followers.
- Targeted ads: This method allows you to offer personalized messages to specific people, making it a very streamlined form of marketing. However, this isn’t the best strategy if you’re looking to engage with new or wider audiences.
5. Update Your Employee Roles
Many businesses are struggling to hire skilled employees. If this is the case for you, you may need to review your roles and benefits. According to a Microsoft study, the primary reasons employees quit include:
- Unsustainable workloads
- Unsympathetic or unempathetic employers
- Lack of flexibility
- Child care issues
As you might expect, solving the above issues can help you get more high-quality candidates. Mental health support, hybrid or remote jobs, and extensive paid leave are among the top benefits employees are looking for, according to the Harvard Business Review.
Why Choose Pay.com as Your Payment Service Provider?
One way to ensure business success? Providing a fast, secure checkout process for your customers. By making the switch to Pay.com, you can depend on our powerful payment solution to help you close every sale.
The Pay.com system is flexible, with options for users of all experience levels. You can get started fast by adding your branding elements to a pre-made checkout page. Or, integrate with our APIs to add hosted payment fields to your app or website. Either way, your customers enjoy a completely customized checkout experience that looks and feels like the rest of your environment.
Even if you don’t operate with a website, Pay.com can still help you get paid. With Pay Links, you can send your customers a link directly to their email or phone that takes them to their own personalized checkout page.
No matter how you get paid, you can easily add or remove payment methods from your checkout page, including credit and debit cards, digital wallets, and more.
Pay.com takes care of security for you. We maintain Level 1 PCI DSS compliance, meaning we use top-tier security measures like tokenization and multifactor authentication. You can access the Pay.com solution through our intuitive platform, the Pay Dashboard. There, you’ll find useful analytics, fee tracking, and more.
Click here to get started with Pay.com now!
The Bottom Line
Covid-19 changed the way we do business. Although it’s come with plenty of challenges, there are also innovations that can help you work smarter instead of harder. By using technology to your advantage and focusing on the products and marketing strategies that serve you best, you can run a successful, strong business.
Make sure that you have a robust payment solution that can support your business. With Pay.com, you get a variety of payment methods, a customizable checkout process, and industry-standard security measures - all accessible via the easy-to-use Pay Dashboard.
