The covid-19 pandemic, insurgencies, inflation, and recession stirred a lot of disturbances in the business world. It is well known that it caused a lot of businesses to close down temporarily, cutting them off from their source of income and customers, and keeping them on their toes not knowing what to expect. It is no wonder why businesses have found it difficult to get going again. Not only were businesses affected, but customers too were affected (as their means of livelihood had been affected), and this has led to a reduction in their demand for products and services. The basis of this article is to answer the question of how to revive one’s business, and how to get customers to patronize you again, and retain them.
As an entrepreneur, you must have the understanding that business challenges will come your way, and the ability to overcome those challenges is what will make you successful in the business. Listed below are five sure steps you can take that would help revive your business and win back your customers.
- Don’t delay – Now is not the time to lick your wounds and wail over the condition the pandemic has placed you and your business. For your information, while you are wallowing in sorrow, other businessmen and women are putting things in place to get their businesses in order, and this includes getting people to patronize them again. Believe it or not, while some customers have laid low in fear of returning to the market or because of financial distress, some others may still need your products or services; so while you are wasting time to return to business, they are waiting for you and when they can’t find you, they would look for other people who render the same service or sell the same product as you, and those ready sellers would be more than willing to take your customers from you. What I am saying in other words is that you shouldn’t delay returning to business. Now is the time, waste none of it.
- Redesign your operations – It will be very difficult for things to be exactly the way it was before the covid-19 pandemic. You may need to redesign your operations to suit present-day circumstances and satisfy customers’ needs. Surely you know that the pandemic has also affected customers and may change their immediate demand for products; redesign your operations and present your products and services in a way that would benefit customers and attract them back to you. For example, if you sell bathing soaps that are quite costly, and customers feel it’s too expensive (as the pandemic has affected their source of income) and would rather go for a cheaper one, redesign your products in a way that you can increase the quantity of the soap a bit and retain your selling price, then you convince the customers that buying the soap will help them lower expenses because the quantity has been increased which would last them a long time, plus the initial benefits of using the soap, all at the original price.
- Seek for financial aids – Because there has been no much financial activity going on since the pandemic, you may find it difficult to get the finances needed to put your products and services back into business, but don’t let this weigh you down. What you need to do is to seek financial aid. Just as you are trying to get your customers to patronize you again by redesigning your operations, so are other companies doing the same. Most companies that grant loans know people would need loans to get their business going again, so because they want to attract those prospective customers to themselves, they may think of reducing the interest rate associated with taking the loans, or developing other packages that would attract customers to themselves; so what you should do is to seek for a company that grants loans with little interest rate. After getting this loan, you need to create a financial plan, at least a three months financial plan that would consist of how you would invest the money in your business, how you would get your profits, and also how to repay the loan you collected.
- Revive customer’s demand for your products and services – The fact is that as they emerge from the covid-19 era, customers would be almost skeptical about everything including the products they get and services they receive, but you can’t blame them for this, as it is one of the effects of the pandemic. What you should do however is to gain customers’ trust again; you can do this by giving them a sure guarantee that their health and safety are not threatened by your products or services, and enlighten them on measures you have put in place to ensure that. Also, ensure that effective marketing strategies are put in place, and the news of your products reaches a wide range of customers. Furthermore, train your sales team on improved methods of conducting sales in this period that would foster trust between customers and themselves.
- Finally, don’t relax– If you wish to completely revive your business in this post-covid-19 era, then you shouldn’t relax. If you conducted business reviews and planned months before this time, then you should consider doing it weekly. This period is critical because you are trying to get the business moving as it was before, and you are trying to gain customers’ confidence and trust again, so you must be vigilant and all hands must be on deck.
In summary, in order to revive your business –
- Don’t delay
- Redesign your operations
- Seek for financial aids
- Revive customers demand for your products and services
- Finally, don’t relax
These five steps are sure measures that you can take which would help revive your business.
