COVID-19: How Businesses Can Cope

To say that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected everybody is an understatement. Nobody was expecting it, much less have prepared for it. Businesses (especially the smaller ones) have struggled to keep their heads above water. But it is a tough balancing act between prioritizing one’s health (together with the people around you) and earning money to survive.

We have had a few months to adjust to this “new normal”, and signs point that it might not go back to the old normal anytime soon. Some business experts have shared tips on how to cope with the changing times.

In “How can businesses cope with COVID-19?”, Panos Papazoglou, Country Managing Partner of EY Greece, EY Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe & Central Asia (CESA) Accounts Leader, listed as one of the steps: “Assessing the company’s exposure to risks associated with third-parties (i.e. supply chain, human resources, business partners) and searching for alternate channels”.

In “Coping with COVID-19: A Pandemic Strategy for Your Small Business”, Phil Stella made a case for two points:

“Develop a detailed process for converting parts or all of your operations to staff working from home. This won’t work for most manufacturers unless they are producing essential products, but parts of the business might be able to function remotely. And create safe social distancing for those people still working on site.

Consider your current staff. If you anticipate losing some people who won’t be available when the crisis is passed, start thinking about where you would look for replacements. If you have a file of unsolicited but worthy resumes, reach out to those people to see how they’re doing … just in case. Even consider scanning the primary job boards to see who is out there.”

And lastly, Emily Heaslip shared the Center for Disease Control recommended tips in “Coronavirus: 8 Things Your Small Business Needs to Do”. One, in particular, advises businesses to shift their sales strategy to online.

For every different business, they may have been affected differently as well. But all of these tips point to a common, and frankly, an obvious solution: shift to a remote or virtual workplace. This is why it was brilliant that Virtual Assistants came to be and why it would be a good idea to get one.

The VA Hub specializes in training Virtual Assistants to cater to a variety of businesses with a multitude of tasks, including but not limited to, executive assistant tasks, social media marketing, lead management, and even tasks specific to a particular industry such as real estate.