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The sudden onset of the coronavirus and the swift reaction by local, state and Federal governments in the United States has had crippling effects on small businesses. The seriousness of the virus coupled with the abundance of caution the is necessary has caused the shutdown of all non-essential businesses. These unexpected measures have resulted in tens of thousands of Americans sitting home without work with no clear timetable for a return to life as we once knew it. Small business owners have been the hardest hit by the coronavirus – by far. Businesses that were thriving now literally have no customers. Their doors are closed and their employees are quarantined in their homes. Restaurants, theaters, and bars are empty; payroll, rent, utilities, and mortgages are going unpaid; and small business owners are left with a shattered mess where once a flourishing, profitable business once stood. The reports on local news stations paint a grim picture and have impacted the morale of the people – the same people who were and are the lifeblood of small businesses. With no phones ringing, no customers in the store and the government and media delivering nothing but grim despair on a minute by minute basis, small business owners are pinching pennies and wondering where their next dollar is coming from. Some businesses are thrivingOn the other side of the coin, certain businesses have realized an uptick in business. One business’s loss is another’s gain. Here are some small businesses that are thriving despite this coronavirus pandemic precautions that have been implemented at state and local levels: Healthcare providersDoctors are seeing more patients now than ever before. Citizens are taking this virus seriously and are visiting their doctor to be tested for coronavirus if testing is available. Supermarkets & Convenient storesSupermarkets & convenient stores are selling out of cleaning products, toilet paper, canned goods, and non-perishable items at a record pace. Paving companiesPaving is considered an essential service in many cities and companies that pave streets and sidewalks are still in business and thriving. Sign makersDrive-up coronavirus testing centers are ordering signs by the hundreds and sign makers are scrambling to meet the demands. Auto repair shopsVehicles need to be repaired and auto mechanics are working to meet this growing need despite the concerns of the coronavirus. PlumbersHomeowners who have frozen pipes, clogged toilets and the like still need these issues addressed and plumbers are fielding calls from citizens who continue to have these ongoing needs. Logistics companiesHauling cargo cross-country has increased due to the rapid purchase of supermarket inventory and online purchases. PharmaciesMedicine is always needed and it is especially in demand due to coronavirus infection concerns. Pharmacies are overloaded with people right now filling prescriptions and taking precautions to protect their health. ContractorsBuilders are breaking ground and both homes and commercial structures continue to go up. Workers are taking precautions by not taking communal lunches together and are not working side by side as in the past, but construction continues to thrive in spite of coronavirus concerns. Trucking companiesJust as with logistics, trucking companies are in business and thriving, hauling freight and making deliveries on – and ahead of – schedule. AccountantsAccountants are in the middle of their high season and remain busy as ever. They have not seen much – if any – interruption in business. Businesses that have been negatively affectedThe paralyzing restrictions placed upon small businesses have ground operations to a halt and devastated their owners. Social distancing has required that citizens avoid contact and only leave their homes if it is essential. This has literally paralyzed small businesses nationwide, turning what used to be bustling cities into ghost towns. Below are the hardest-hit small businesses: HotelsThe hospitality industry is essentially closed. People are staying at home and not staying in hotels. AirlinesTravel is being kept to a minimum and airplanes now have no more than 50 passengers at a time, if that. Travel has understandably taken a firm backseat to safety. CasinosThe entire city of Las Vegas is closed and the Atlantic City casinos are also closed down out of an abundance of caution. Commercial LaundryThis goes hand in hand with the hotel business. Laundry services have had to lay off employees since there are no sheets, etc, to wash given the sharp decline in hotel guests. GymsPeople are working out at home since gyms are a fertile breeding ground for the coronavirus. Real estate companiesOpen houses and house showings have been shut down until further notice so as to discourage large groups of people from coming into contact with one another. Open houses and showings are the lifeblood of the real estate industry, and this development has halted real estate sales like nothing the industry has ever seen. LandlordsEvictions have stayed pending the resolution of the coronavirus. Tenants that are behind in their rent have a temporary stay in place until further notice. Foreclosing LendersSimilar to landlords, all foreclosure proceedings have stayed until further notice. Homeowners who were facing homelessness have additional time to consider their options while we deal with the coronavirus. Restaurants & BarsThese industries are the hardest hit, as restaurants are relegated to take-out and deliveries only. Bars are completely shut down and are not operating at all. These industries are suffering the most and the effects they feel may be permanent. Their effects upon small businesses vary and circumstances will dictate whether they will sink or swim. While some businesses thrive, others are suffering devastating consequences from which they may never recover. Only time will tell how far-reaching the impact of the coronavirus ultimately is, and the best we can do as a people and a nation is to band together and support one another during this challenging and unchartered period in our history. The post Here’s how the Coronavirus is Affecting Small Business Owners in the US appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/heres-how-the-coronavirus-is-affecting-small-business-owners-in-the-us/ By the time you’re reading this, it will become increasingly clear that the novel coronavirus, more precisely Covid-19, is having a major impact on businesses. For many, this is a time of great economic uncertainty. However, for us, this is a time of considerable economic opportunity. By building a culture dependent on who we are, not where we meet, making staying in touch a priority, and through training and adapting, not only will we be able to survive, but we will be able to thrive as a result. Culture Beyond the Water CoolerOf course, not every company is this lucky. However, more than anything we have seen a willingness to move away from the office as Covid-19 becomes more rampant. Crucial to being able to do so is to maintain company culture; after all, we are more than just a paycheck. It is wise to think so, as with all the other stressors that will fill people’s lives in the coming weeks, we have the opportunity to be a source of stability and normalcy for our employees. That means being willing to move beyond the water cooler, coffee pot, and break room. Instead, whereas before our company culture was largely based on a split of direct personal contact and contact through electronic means, be it phone calls or emails, now it will hinge almost exclusively on the latter. That is not such a bad thing. Staying in TouchOne of our top priorities is making sure that we are able to stay connected, not only from a business perspective but also from a personal one. Therefore, making sure that the infrastructure is in place to do so is crucial. Luckily, there are a number of methods to achieve exactly such a goal. And no, email is not one of them! FormalFirst, let’s take a look at the more formal forms of communication. These are those that will likely be used during meetings, as well as during consultations with clients. Many of these are video-based, meaning that you’ll get everything you would normally get from a face to face meeting, except the handshake (which, to be fair, is probably best avoided now anyway!). For those instances where a one on one meeting is desirable, Skype works exceptionally well. Likewise, if you are looking to have more than one other party present, Zoom offers a number of options that fit the requirements of many small businesses. Likewise, other providers like GoTo Meeting offer increased functionality. If you’re only looking for phone support, then FreeConferenceCall.com can let you reach up to 1,000 people at once, making it ideal for weekly updates with your employees! Of course, there are still some best practices to keep in mind. Make sure to dress in business attire, although except for interviews, discussions with potential clients, and the like, business casual is going to be more of the order of the day. Also, consider your background; a neutral wallpaper or painted wall is a better choice than images of your favorite sports team. Finally, while interruptions from younger interlopers may be unavoidable, try to limit them by making sure that children are attended to before the meeting. InformalBeyond those, business owners can also utilize a number of different, more informal methods to stay in touch. Many of these are text-based, harkening back to the old days of AIM and ICQ. Slack is by far the most famous, and offers a great deal of functionality for free. Likewise, Google Hangouts is also a great option. Even LinkedIn has a great messaging platform built into its functionality. These allow you to attach files, save conversations, and jump on a video call if greater clarification is necessary. One note, however, about using such apps. Outside of formal meetings, recognize that working from home is about being flexible. Don’t take advantage of Slack to check in on employees every waking minute; many may have family members that require care, and such micromanagement will only cause company culture to suffer. TrainingA number of studies have shown that the average office worker only truly works for three hours a day, despite being at the office for eight. That statistic should offer some light onto how much your staff can get done every day, but it should also show that there is an opportunity for employee training during the slowdown. Executive TrainingWith lines of communication more clearly drawn into formal and informal camps, the leadership of your company should be able to find time to accelerate their own training. LinkedIn has provided a number of courses for how to best work and manage during the pandemic for free, and other providers are offering a number of other courses. Given all that is going on, it may also be the perfect time to think outside of the box. As different countries are responding differently to the pandemic, providing some basic cultural and language training to your executive and sales teams could open up surprising new opportunities for economic growth in the future. While there are severe limitations on moving people across borders currently, there are no such difficulties with moving information. Training for EveryoneTraining does not just have to be focused on the executive leadership. Chances are that many of your employees could also benefit from the sort of seminars being offered as well. Again, while it is not fair to stuff their days with training classes, some focused seminars will help alleviate stress while also increasing company culture. Feel free to reach out to your employees and ask them what would be most beneficial for them, not only in their current roles, but also in their own professional development. You may well find that you have aspiring linguists, coders, efficiency experts, and much more. Nurturing that talent now, when you have time to do so, will pay dividends later on. Even something as mundane as a speed reading course could allow your employees to process information more quickly, while also giving them a great personal asset. Focus on Digital MarketingOne area where we see particular opportunity for training, and indeed for all aspects of the pandemic, is digital marketing. However, it must be the right kind of digital marketing, for the right product. Many individuals are going to be nervous spending superfluous money without good cause; while many people have been guaranteed earnings through the crisis, many others have not. How We HelpTherefore, we have found that the best style of marketing to be used is B2B, and that means heavy utilization of LinkedIn. However, with everything else going on during this time, the opportunity to further streamline your digital marketing efforts would be invaluable. That’s where kennected.org comes in. Using our proprietary methods, you can add significantly to your bottom line, even in the leanest of times. By focusing on the sort of lead that you want to gain from LinkedIn, we help you identify them, connect with them, and begin building a relationship that will pay dividends now and later. In doing so, you can not only provide valuable services to another company, but also provide the sort of stability to your employees that is the true hallmark of great company culture. The post Team Building Virtually During The Corona Virus Pandemic appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/team-building-virtually-during-the-corona-virus-pandemic/ #kennected #linkedinautomation Navigation links:
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Learn New Skills, Develop Content, Build a Social Media Presence Spend Time on LinkedIn, Consider Kennected.org, Final Thoughts
Coronavirus has completely changed the way that the world does business. At the beginning of 2020, it would have been a considerable faux pas to suggest that a business meeting should begin with a fist bump instead of a handshake, and now people are thinking that even touching knuckles would be a major violation of the ideals of social distancing; and we, for one, don’t disagree with them! However, believe it or not, while we have every reason to respect just how much havoc Covid-19 could cause if unabated, the truth is that now is a time of considerable opportunity for businesses. We’ve put together a list of just a few of the things that you can do to not only survive during social distancing but thrive. Learn New SkillsWith a sizable portion of your day now free, if for no other reason than a lack of a commute, now is the perfect time to learn new skills. Plenty of media outlets have suggested learning to code or learning a new language, but you can also take the time to learn something more immediately applicable to your business. Perhaps you could take the time to learn how to edit photos or videos? Or maybe your Excel skills could use some polish? Of course, you could think broader, too. There are plenty of books that come out every year that you may normally not have time to read. Now is just the time to devour the sort of business books that will help make you a better leader. But your choice doesn’t have to be business; instead, consider that through reading more fiction, you’ll become a better storyteller. That is a crucial part of marketing in and of itself. Develop ContentThat ability to be a storyteller will be honed by reading great works, but it is useless if you don’t start using it to create some content. People will be spending more time reading your content now, so it will definitely get some more views. Because of this, definitely put more effort into putting yourself, and your business, out there. However, be careful not to be tone-deaf. Early in the outbreak, a number of CEOs sent boilerplate messages that essentially amounted to proclamations that people should still buy from their brands because they were washing their hands. Those have been ridiculed online. Instead, focus on ways that your business can help people continue with life, or business, as usual. Build a Social Media PresenceThat content will greatly benefit from more people seeing it if it is placed on your newly active social media pages. In the past, many companies struggled to see just how valuable social media could be. Now, with people spending more time than ever on social media, you’ll find doing so allows you to be even more successful. Of course, with this new influx of people, there is a major need to be authentic. No, I don’t mean that as a Millenial buzzword, but instead, mean that you shouldn’t feel the need to have a perfect sunset in the background of every post. Remember, you’re chasing connections, not likes. Spend Time on LinkedInOne of the best places to get those extra connections is LinkedIn. In fact, we can’t think of a single better place for businesses to focus. LinkedIn still allows you to network with people, but instead of having to brave Covid-19 at a networking event, you can instead focus on finding exactly who it is that you’ll want to talk to. Best of all, LinkedIn doesn’t have gatekeepers, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to get past someone’s secretary. Consider Kennected.orgThat said, using LinkedIn to its most effective levels does require a learning curve. With everyone else talking about flattening the curve, that learning curve is another you’ll want to lessen the slope of. A great way of doing that is by using Kennected. Kennected works by helping automate the process of finding qualified leads on LinkedIn. Through our onboarding process, Kennected learns about you, your company, and the people and businesses you serve. From that information, Kennected then finds a way to contact people on LinkedIn whom it feels will benefit most from a chance to learn about what your company has to offer. Best of all, Kennected works whether or not your company has support for LinkedIn Sales Navigator, meaning that you will be able to focus on finding new people to speak with despite the pandemic. Remember, Covid-19 can’t be transmitted over the phone or the internet, but your plans to help your customers thrive can. Final ThoughtsA crucial part of beating the Covid-19 Pandemic is that everyone should stay away from others, and often that means working from home. However, it is not a time that is necessarily lost to the business. Instead, by focusing on a few key areas that are often neglected, your company will be able to grow and indeed thrive, through the pandemic and beyond. The post Coronavirus is Actually an Opportunity for your Business, but why? appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/coronavirus-opportunity-for-business/ |
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