There are many pandemic resilience lessons from small business U.S.A. In our previous post, we compiled statistics to show the impact of Covid-19 on US small business. And we also shared how optimism among this hard-hit small business has started growing more and more. Now, we list the practices that have allowed companies to come out stronger, or at least still in business. These best practices are 7 lessons of resilience during the pandemic that U.S. small business have taught us all.
7 Pandemic Resilience Lessons from Small Business U.S.A
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Be Agile and Innovate. We’ve all heard success stories of small and medium businesses that have survived the pandemic crisis and some even grew. What most of these winning companies have in common is that they had the creativity to come up with new ways to adapt to the changing and unstable business conditions.
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Plan and prepare. Planning ahead and creating different scenarios helped SMEs to prepare and have potential solutions to different circumstances. So, if all of the sudden they ended up with fewer employees, or having to find new suppliers, there were plans B or C.
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Develop digital capabilities. In other words, go online and stay there! In many cases, online presence also made the difference between closing down or surviving. This is how many small and medium businesses were able to keep open, by offering their services for pick up or delivery. And as we’ve discussed before, this is a trend that’s here to stay.
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Foster partnerships or strategic alliances. This idea epitomizes the concept of pandemic resilience Lessons from Small Business U.S.A. By joining forces, struggling business put together their resources and expertise, resulting in new and improved service/product offerings. The ghost kitchen and florist-sweet stores examples are living proof of how innovation and planning have led to survival.
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Design and Set up Subscription or membership programs. Having paid service plans is a win-win option for both customers and the business. By offering discounts and other incentives to customers, business can secure cash flow and recurring purchases. And customers enjoy the time and money benefits of pre-ordering and savings.
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Streamline processes and automate as much as possible. For many small businesses automating routine tasks with apps, may have made the difference for survival, thanks to time and costs saved.
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Seek help! As the backbone of American economy, U.S. small businesses are entitled not only to government funds, but all types of support. It’s just a matter of finding the most suitable options and resources.
Covid-19 is still with us, and probably will be around for some time. But the uncertainty of the past year and a half have reminded us what winners are made of. The pandemic resilience lessons from small business USA and worldwide are an inspiration for all of us. Now over to you, our readers and followers. Do you have an experience of your own worth sharing? By all means, please contact us and let us know, we’d love to hear from you and write about it! We at Estafeta USA are honored to work for small and medium businesses and applaud their passion and endurance.