Business and economic experts agree that the future of business after COVID will be a different place than ever before. Yet within this future, the question of growing your brand and scaling business remains as poignant as ever.
The last months have hit small businesses in the non-digital space the hardest. From your favorite bakery next door to an event planner you hired for your kid’s graduation party, to niche lifestyle brands, the economic crisis leaves countless small business owners gasping for ways to grow their brand and scale business in the short and longterm.
What can these businesses do to keep their brand alive and keep growing during the pandemic and its economical aftermath?
We posed the question to small business owners nationwide and were overwhelmed with the creativity of these entrepreneurs and the positive changes they’ve already seen as a result of their tweaked business model.
Here’s how entrepreneurs from some of the hardest-hit industries are scaling their business and growing their brand as we speak — and how you can follow their example from home.
1. Scale, search, and deliver
You’d think growing a business in the event industry is the stuff of dreams right now. Especially if you’re living in the epicenter of COVID-19 like Michelle McKenna Shuey, Founder at The Effortless Affair.
This NJ – based mompreneur thinks differently. For Michelle, scaling her business after having all events postponed or canceled through the summer didn’t mean giving up. Instead, she’s come up with quite a few permanent additions to her business model.
I have pivoted to a party delivery business… I drop party boxes to your door containing a local bakery cake, on theme paper plates and napkins, candles, banner, balloon, craft for birthday child as well as a birthday crown. I also include a Spotify playlist for the party and a list or virtual entertainment with pricing.
2. Go the extra mile with customer care
When challenge hits, it’s OK for people on both ends to be stressed out and in the dark about the future. But as a business, it’s also your job to provide an island of safety and certainty to your clients so they can count on your product/service.
Justin Hill, Owner of Hill Law Firm is used to dealing with client stress but has doubled down on customer care in recent times.
Often, when our clients come to us, they are already in a stressful situation. The current pandemic has only exacerbated the anxiety and uncertainty that they feel. We’ve learned that our quick responses to clients and meeting options have really helped to alleviate some of the stress that they feel.
Learn more: 5 Customer Support Tools That Work While you Sleep
3. Go international
For non-digital companies, taking your brand to international level is often a risky step. How do you know if the investment of time and costs will pay off and that you’re on the right track? Entrepreneurs like Kimberly Crisostomo Bavington, Founder of Art Classes for Kids, prove that small businesses shouldn’t be afraid to grow their brand in the international arena.
We’ve had an interesting transition moving the business from 100% in-person group classes and private lessons to 100% virtual classes and FaceTime private lessons. It hasn’t been easy…for us to digitize all of our lessons and think outside of the box to try and give kids a similar experience on the computer as they do in our studio.
Though she calls the process “extremely time-consuming”, Kimberly notes parallel “extreme success” in online classes and plans to keep them a permanent feature of her brand.
Learn more: Best Website Builders for Small Business that Put you First
4. Recruit and train non-local talent
Some sectors are more tied to locale than others. Insurance and insurance development agencies are one such example. This often means that hiring and growth are limited to one geography. At least, until the business has no choice but to literally widen their horizons.
Tony Caldwell, CEO of One Agents Alliance (OAA), explains how a geographically constrained small business can move recruiting, training, mentoring and support services online, and while others are closing shop, go on to open new doors.
The communications methodologies and virtual teamwork tools we’ve embraced allow us to hire employees wherever we find them. This is already opening up our talent searches and we hired a new employee from 1,500 miles away in early April…At the same time we are expanding our geographic reach for the planting of agencies [and] expect to put three new agencies in California in May.
5. Become an authority to your audience
The demand for information from home is currently skyrocketing and smart businesses are already finding ways to meet that demand. Being useful to your customers through not merely sales but informative content is extremely important at the moment, notes Jasmine Young, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Southern Tax Preparation & Services, LLC.
Refocusing has allowed us to establish ourselves as an authority in the accounting/finance industry,” Jasmine says. “The amount of participation in our live videos, the overwhelming amount of direct messages to our social media accounts, the client referrals from our audience, and the increase in revenue is an obvious indication that our decision… was a step in the right direction.
6. Create your own digital media platform
When 80% of your business caters to brick and mortar shops that are indefinitely closed due to COVID-19, the math is simple: you either live on the 20% or you get creative. This is exactly what happened to Leslie Scott, owner of Walton Wood Farm.
I took Seth Godin’s advice and built my own platform, a podcast titled, Rewriting Dad, based on my family history. My personal care company, Waltonwoodfarm, is the mid-roll sponsor.
So what does a family podcast have in common with scaling a beauty business? The magic lies in connecting to your target audiences through a network of multiple channels and linking those back to your product. The result is your very own brand infrastructure.
7. Build rapport through transparency
As a marketer for your brand, should you lighten up the mood and avoid the topic of COVID-19 or confidently approach the subject? When tackling this delicate topic, Vivien Adrian, PR at UNDONE, a global personalized watch brand, says transparent engagement with your audience is a fantastic way to scale your business.
In light of the current situation, we have implemented more messaging to highlight what UNDONE is doing to keep its employees, community, and courier services safe,” Vivien says. “We are [also] working on multiple campaigns that touch base with our community being stuck at home, highlighting ‘staying safe, staying positive, and staying individual.
8. Lead your team with example
Right now is a difficult time for teams of all sizes. Employers successful in scaling their business through crisis are the ones that don’t leave their own. Extending a hand to your employees, paying salaries, and not firing those who’re in dire situation themselves can be a tough decision. Whether you believe in karma or not, in business everything that goes round comes round.
A moment of calm and peace is what Raquel Tavares, Founder of Fourth & Heart has her heart on doing during a crisis like COVID-19.
Moving with a “people first” movement, I publicly vowed to not fire any employees as well and to find any cash runway through other cuts. Additionally, I wrote a note [to] my team and my group of investors on the plan to be put in place as a response to COVID.
Final word
Growing a business during the unprecedented time of a pandemic is a heroic effort for small business. But as the above entrepreneurs prove, scaling your business and building the future of business after COVID is not only possible but critical at this time.
As actress and author Fannie Flagg once worded it:
“Don’t give up before the miracle happens”!
At MightyCall, we’d like to do our part and help you cope with handling business communications effortlessly. See how below.
