Wednesday, 11th March 2020 | Management
5 ways to safeguard your business against coronavirus
With the coronavirus spreading around the world, Canadian businesses are bracing for the impact. Here are five things Canadian business owners can do right now to help shield their companies.
Updated March 24, 2020 (originally published March 11, 2020)
With the Canada-wide shutdown due to coronavirus, Canadian businesses are really feeling the impact, and are many are already strained financially after having been forced to shut down. While Canadians fear a mass spread of the virus as happened in Italy, businesses are already navigating changing supply lines, protecting staff, selling online and rethinking delivery procedures as well. In addition to following the government’s response and instructions for Canadians, here are five things Canadian business owners can do right now to help shield their companies.
1. Plan for disruption in inventory
If you sell physical goods (rather than services), now’s the time to audit your inventory and develop a plan in the case of shortages or outages. In order to understand how differentiated your supply line is, consider how many suppliers you have—are you depending on one, or is your risk lower because you have many suppliers? Also, consider which countries the goods are manufactured in and being transported through. Equipped with that information, you can develop a plan in case of disruptions in inventory. You may want to stock up now on key items, or source from local suppliers for a limited time. Additionally, plan how you will communicate to buyers if particular items become unavailable.
2. Consider adjusting your service
If you offer a service, consider what you can do to safeguard and reassure your customers. If your staff typically visits your customers, are you able to service customers remotely for a time? If not, figure out what additional measures you can put in place to protect both your staff and customers. For example, on March 11, Uber sent an email to all customers listing several changes being enacted, including dropping food deliveries at doorways versus the typical person-to-person hand-off. Uber is also providing drivers with disinfectants to keep their cars clean.
3. Communicate with customers and stakeholders
There has been a deluge of emails from businesses to communicate the changes they are making. Simply reaching out to stakeholders to let them know you are on top of this situation will give people greater confidence in your business. You may want to tell people about changes you’ve implemented internally that are designed to protect them, or that may impact them. For example, explain that your staff is working from home, or detail how you've changed your product delivery process. Cover what changes will happen and when they’re taking effect, and provide a point of contact should they have a question or concern. Whatever your update is, follow the best practices for this scenario: be both timely and honest.
4. Cut expenses and watch cash flow
If business slows, either for a short-time or multiple quarters, it will most likely impact your cash flow. Here are three things you can do to be ready: Where possible, cut non-essential expenses right away. This will allow you to save a little extra cash now and save you the work down the road when things will be busier and more stressful. Stay on top of the government relief plan and apply right away. If you get into a cash flow shortage, be prepared to use a term loan or line of credit. If you haven’t got one of these lined up, do the research now so that you can access money quickly if you need it.
5. Protect and equip employees
There are a few things you should do right now related to employees:
- First, follow in the footsteps of other Canadian businesses and institute a work-from-home option where possible. Online conferencing tools like Zoom and Google Hangouts are excellent for facilitating staff meetings.
- Second, if you require people to be onsite, consider running in shifts to reduce the number of people in the building at one time. Install hand sanitizers by major exits and elevators, and put bottles at reception and other public areas. Also, stagger breaks and ensure the office including all equipment is thoroughly cleaned daily, or between shifts.
- Third, cross-train your team so that they are capable of covering (at least the basics of) other functions. This way, operations won’t cease entirely should you have prolonged staff absences.
With the situation unfolding rapidly, it’s impossible to predict if, or how much more Canadian businesses will be affected. However, doing your due diligence by following these five safeguards will, in the worst case, have you better prepared to weather a stressful time, and in the best case, give your stakeholders and customers the confidence that you act in their best interest.
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