5 key survival techniques for small businesses during a crisis

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Small businesses are fundamentally changing business models by taking on new delivery channels, services, and products, as well as customers.

Ninety-two percent of small businesses have used the pandemic crisis to reinvent themselves, according to GetApp’s new research, America’s Small Businesses Have Reinvented Themselves. Small businesses are changing operating hours, revamping pricing structures, and adding new payment methods, as well as adding new delivery channels, services and products. 

A June survey of 577 small business leaders reviewed how small businesses transformed their business models as a response to changing customer behaviors due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. 

Surviving a major crisis is not easy, so the survey identified five key survival techniques for small businesses propelling changes, according to the report:

  1. New online delivery channel: Go virtual, because with a new online delivery channel a company can sell through an online marketplace or take orders online.

  2. New virtual service: Two of five small businesses are creating a new virtual service, such as a yoga class offered online. In lieu of the conventional open house, real estate agents are offering virtual home tours, and even professionally shot videos for the most expensive homes for sale. A virtual version of services or products can also enhance an existing business model as it attracts new customers, and more. Virtual services are a fact of life in the coronavirus-affected world.

  3. New offline delivery channel: A new offline delivery channel (such as curbside pickup or home delivery) is among the most popular business model survival techniques (also called “pivots” in the report). Online consumers quickly discovered the convenience of curbside pickup, and it’s likely to remain the new normal long after social distancing needs have eased. Home delivery service is a more an accepted sign of the times. Small businesses began offering home delivery service, and others choose to partner with third-party platforms to extend customer reach and streamline orders.

Read the entire article at TechRepublic: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/5-key-survival-techniques-for-small-businesses-during-a-crisis/

Chris Ewing