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As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, businesses are learning new ways to keep themselves afloat. While some economies are surging in the current environment (technology and delivery services, etc.), others have started to feel the burn of the ensuing slowdown (restaurants and tourism, for example).
However, as a tech startup in 2020, you may be able to survive, after all. With a bit of help, understanding of social media trends, and early measures, there are ways you can ensure that your new business survives this pandemic.
Most of the world is on government-imposed lockdowns, if you are in a similar situation, hopefully, you have had contingency plans ready to evolve with the changing situation. But even if you couldn’t respond in-time, below are some measures you can take right now to make sure that your employees are feeling productive, taken care of, and ready to join the outside world as soon as this nightmare is over.
As per a JP Morgan Chase study conducted in 2016, on average, most small businesses in America only had a cash reserve that could last 27 days. But some businesses, popularly known as Main Street businesses, often had a cash reserve of only less than 20 days.
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Do your financial inventory and figure out what your situation is. As a tech startup, you may not have pressing cash needs but the inventory will help you know where you stand if this lockdown continues for months on end. A look at your financial situation is necessary to know whether you should apply for Small Business Administration loans or other aid packages. This cash flow in your accounts can help you pay your employees’ salaries, hire virtual assistants and facilitate remote work situations.
This brings us to our next point.
As a startup and a small business, you cannot afford to go without work for very long. You need only need to sustain your new venture but also help your workforce continue paying for their bills and groceries etc. while they are self-quarantined.
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Luckily, as a tech business, most of your work can be performed remotely. Yes, there may be less creativity and collaboration than usual, but daily catch-up and review meetings can provide a semblance of a usual work routine to keep your remote assistants motivated.
If for any reason, you have to keep your office open, you need to be particularly careful about how you are handling the safety of those who are coming to the office. Make sure your workers are protected with the employee health insurance they need to survive the pandemic.
Hang sneeze guards in strategic areas. Ask the janitorial staff to keep all the surfaces clean and rub them with proper disinfectants afterward. Doorknobs, light switches, keyboards, door handles, and all other surfaces that people usually come in contact with must be thoroughly cleaned.
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Also, pay attention to what types of cleaning surfaces your janitorial staff is using and how often. The EPA recently released a list of its approved disinfectants that could be used to protect against Coronavirus. Make sure your office is buying one of these products to keep your surfaces and tabletops clean and infection-free.
Keeping in mind that it may not be possible for a lot of new businesses, considering the uncertainty of the situation, but apply for government grants and other aids that you could qualify for, to make sick-leave possible for those who are too sick to come to the office or work from home.
Even if you can continue this measure for 8 or a maximum of 12 weeks, it could go a long way to help keep your key employees feel taken care of, which can transform into a strong loyalty to you and the company in return.
For a tech workforce, it makes sense to be trained in more jobs than one. For example, your developer should also have a sense of design. Similarly, your graphic designer can be trained to be a technical writer. With the way things are evolving, almost all the global workforce is at risk of this novel disease.
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According to Piyush Jain, Founder of Simpalm, an app development company for startups – “Employees should be trained in multiple disciplines.” As a small business owner, you will not be able to afford too many sick employees or sick leaves. Therefore, start cross-training your employees right now. Assign one of your managers or supervisors to take on the task and help employees train for their additional roles. Alternatively, you can hire Indian developers, who are often skilled in multiple disciplines, to diversify your team’s expertise. It is something that most workers will be happy doing as it adds to their resume and skill level, too.
Covid-19 pandemic is an evolving situation. While it is not healthy (and unnecessary) to keep glued over to the news or Google for every little update and viral story on the developing trends of the coronavirus, it is important to keep updated.
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Set aside 30 minutes (or maximum an hour a day) from your time to apprise yourself of how things are developing and what you need to be doing to adapt to the changing situation. You can also use COVID illustrations to communicate updates with the team. This will not only instill a sense of control in you but will enable you to transfer this confidence and calm to your employees as well.
Lastly, it cannot be stressed how vital it is to stay home right now and not go out unnecessarily. For an extrovert, it must be quite difficult to manage. But as someone rightly said a few days ago, this is a disease that will not come to you unless you go out and bring it in. So do not go out and let it die down.
Stay safe, everyone!
Kelvin Stiles is a tech enthusiast and works as a marketing consultant at SurveyCrest – FREE online survey software and publishing tools for academic and business use. He is also an avid blogger and a comic book fanatic.
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