After Covid: Small Business Ideas, Strategies & Preparation for the Future
You probably don’t know Angela Marsden by name. But you’ve probably seen her.
Angela lives in Los Angeles, where she is owner and operator of the Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill. Her video went viral in December 2020 by revealing a massive outdoor dining setup for a film crew. Nothing wrong with that in a vacuum, right? Problem was, this was right next to her restaurant, which was being shut down despite her tireless efforts to comply with regulations and stay afloat.
Many people were quick to politicize it (truly, utterly, SHOCKING!). But the broader and more impactful implication was what small businesses were up against...and what they will be for some time.
Globalization and consumer trends toward convenience have steepened the uphill battle for small businesses versus corporations. In recessive times, small businesses would surely suffer more, but big business would still stagnate, if not take a hit as well.
But we’d never seen a discrepancy like the one introduced by COVID-19, in which small businesses were largely erased, and big business shot to the moon (to the tune of trillions and trillions. Pfft, Jeff Bezos technically DID shoot to the moon!)
The Small Business Administration closes its report on the COVID pandemic’s industrial effect with the following;
“Some businesses have died, some have been born, and many that survive will have been permanently changed”
What weight in that message! Now, “changed” is obviously the word with the most range, so what does the future hold? Let’s start with some context, data and lessons.
Following the Great Recession of 2007-2009, it took small businesses an average of six years to make a full recovery.
99% of businesses in the United States qualify as small businesses, as they have fewer than 500 employees. They employ 48% of all U.S. employees.
“Some businesses have died, some have been born, and many that survive will have been permanently changed.”
So 99% of businesses have to rebound while contending with something NOT present during The Great Recession (or even The Great Depression for that matter); a global pandemic that has killed over five million people.
What will this rebound entail? What can small businesses do to not just survive, but thrive? Let’s dive into the nooks, crannies, and massive mysteries facing the future of small businesses.
A New Type of Employee
Post-COVID employee preferences - and demands - will have transformed more than any other aspect of the pre-COVID business world.
Chief among them is remote work. The debate hasn’t just caused myriad managerial meetings and employees whispering frustrations and wishes to each other; it’s caused resignations left and right.
It seems one thing is clear; if owners believe their business benefits from in-person interaction and ideation, it will behoove them to have their talking points fine-tuned. Heck, whether they will be delivered via email, meeting, Zoom or 1-on-1, write them out beforehand and practice them. The more empathetic you are, the better the odds of success, of cohesion. Plan for every type of response, and your counter-response.
Then there’s the safety. Look, COVID shook a lot of people. As a result, it amplified discussion on vaccines, and birthed discussion on masks (well, at least in America). COVID safety in business going forward will entail not just staff and employees, but perception and law.
How will businesses want to be perceived? How will it contrast with how they actually are? What can they mandate, if they want to?
Perception and law are the most touch-and-go of all issues presented here, but constant research, consultation and thought will be of utmost importance to not just optimize business, but to act respectfully and be respected.
New Ways to Advertise
During a routine video game session with the nephew last summer, I caught an itty bitty glimpse of a paradigm shift that may have pre-COVID roots, but is locked and loaded moving on from it.
I’m a film buff, so when I saw that the popular game Fortnite was in a passionate advertising marriage with Christopher Nolan’s then-upcoming film Tenet, I was ecstatic, shocked, and eventually ponderous.
Now, Fortnite and a Nolan flick don’t fit small business criteria - but that doesn’t mean they can’t portend the future of advertising as a whole. Content has become almost a new vitamin or mineral to us, with the meteoric rise in podcasts, gaming, streaming, YouTube, social media influencers, on and on and on.
Savvy advertisers will know that this demands a new approach to consumer engagement. The small businesses that properly utilize analytics, demographics, exceptional content and thorough planning will be the ones that can make the 2020s a revenue splash.
The Website is the New Handshake
Look, maybe handshakes will make a full return. But for businesses in this aforementioned digitized world, the website is their unquestioned greeting. It is to the consumer, what a cover letter is to an employer.
We actually covered this more extensively a couple months back, and only feel more strongly about it now. A dated, confusing, or clunky website is the fastest route to business failure. A clear, informative, distinguished website is the gold standard of consumer engagement.
Unlike some other topics within this blog, businesses owners should feel no hesitation about outsourcing this. Whatever pretty penny may have to be paid is beyond worthy compared to the price of inaction. Freelance hubs alone are home to thousands of website maestros.
There will hopefully be numerous refreshes once the COVID dust settles. A refresh on living healthily, a refresh on compassion. A refresh on what we want to politicize, and definitely a refresh on pandemic preparedness! But the best business refresh is the one owners owe their websites. There is a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses effect in the website realm, so don’t snooze to lose.
Cybersecurity
Okay, this one may seem like a curveball. Better yet, I’m not even strictly talking about tech businesses. But hear me out.
Virtually every business is having to become more digitized because the entire planet is (hello NFTs and bitcoin!). COVID catapulted this and it’s unlikely that genie goes back in the bottle. So while convenience and efficiency are enormous benefits, this means highly sensitive information - belonging to staff and customers alike - will be omnipresent and up for grabs for any hoodied hacker looking for some precious credit card info.
Skimping on cybersecurity could result in a temporary headache at best, and a total catastrophe at worst - not to mention a potential domino effect of reputation damage and lawsuits.
This list of 8 cybersecurity tips courtesy of Inc.com is a brief read that will pay huge dividends for those businesses looking to invest now instead of paying later.
The Path Forward
There’s a famous quote by genius investor and loyal McDonald’s patron Warren Buffett - “Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy”. Meant for investments, this train of thought will absolutely apply to business after the past 20 months. There will be fear, hesitation, and frustration en masse coming out of the pandemic; and I get it. But the optimal move for businesses owners is to go charging in to the future at full steam. Be smart, and be caring, but be - in a sense - greedy. That said, still be fearful of cyberattacks! Don’t discount the preeminent danger of digitalization.
It’s never been easy for small businesses. And this decade may be the most challenging. But what kind of business owner doesn’t get warm and fuzzy inside when presented with a challenge? Big business might have the budgets to avoid some of these dangers, but small business owners have a distinct ability to get creative. They are bound by much less pressure, red tape and expectation than the billion-dollar titans.
And we sure can’t wait to see what they do because of it.
