Navigating the Covid-19 period

The pandemic has different impacts depending on your business size. While many people seem to be cautiously optimistic about the economic impacts of Covid-19, that’s not true for small business owners.

Despite the huge pressure put on these businesses from the lack of trading, I’ve seen some awesome initiatives pulled off. People doing incredibly well, and many reaping the rewards of their previous hard work.

In the fashion and design space over this period, wholesale orders dried up. Most small multi-brand retailers are putting in smaller orders and many are having trouble paying. Across my client base, the businesses that have worked hard on brand and PR for years have really started to shine due to people’s desire to shop with brands they know and love.

By investing heavily in digital marketing, and communicating effectively with their customers via social media, many companies have been able to replace their usual wholesale revenue with e-commerce sales. This has allowed them to maintain revenue while increasing margin – a massive win. There has never been a time when people are more inclined to buy directly from a brand they like.

Likewise, I’ve seen multibrand retailers navigate this period by reducing staff hours, negotiating rent relief and cutting unnecessary costs, as well as reinvesting in digital and social channels to increase e-commerce sales. This has helped them claw back to (or near) break-even.

Another client in the services industry realised they were overstaffed for the demand ahead. They had early talks with staff and people began to look for freelance work. A portion of the workforce has now moved to contracting and will continue to work with the company, while also doing work for others.

This early action has meant the company still has access to labour and maintained relationships. Because they notified workers early, people didn’t have to suddenly find new jobs in an extremely hard job market.

Fitness companies I work with had the brilliant idea of renting out their equipment. Members took the gear home, continued their workout routine, and the business generated income over lockdown.

Don’t forget the future belongs to those who take decisive action.

Toss Grumley is a business adviser at Wolf & Fox, servicing over 150 businesses, and a director of a digital marketing agency and accounting firm