As Lord Beaverbrook once said, “Business is more exciting than any game.” Only the stakes are higher and the consequences more impactful. Moreover, it is that time of the year when an uncontrollable world event puts a halt in businesses and makes them stagnant. Just when you start thinking if your business is broken, the first thing to remember: Do Not Panic! The situation demands dynamism, adaption and improvisation. Though the pandemic crisis seems to be prolonging, remember there’s a silver lining in the looming clouds, as evident from the Chinese word for crisis ‘Weiji’ – 危机 which means opportunity.
So, in the spirit of Weiji, here are 5 things you can do to reinvigorate your enterprise:
Thriving in Social Media
As social media is becoming more and more valuable each passing day, many entrepreneurs can grab this opportunity to grow their businesses. Brian Clark, founder of a pioneer Copy blogging website said, “You can’t ignore social media, because that’s where your audience is.”
While Facebook alone has over 1.17 billion monthly active users and an average of 313 million monthly active users are on Twitter, it’s clear that you can give your business a radical boost by making it visible online with numbers like these.
As an entrepreneur, every public post you make online counts. If it reaches the right person, you are likely to get a conversion from potential to actual customers, with no stress or extra effort. Thus, it helps you by having to spend less and get more, hasslefree. So, it’s high time you barge into social media, connect to your customers better and serve them on a higher level.
Webbing the Networks
Getting stuck with a laptop screen on – scrolling through social media just because the business is slow? Why mindlessly scroll away your valuable time, when you can use this opportunity to build a network?
“Networking is an investment in your business. It takes time and when done correctly can yield great results for years to come.” – Diane Helbig. It’s a good time to stalk networks and build more connections to shift your business in high gear and get back into the race. This might be that time for entrepreneurs to hunt for the right investors, consumers and potential partners. These are some of the ways one can go about achieving that:
Stay in Touch with Former Connections: Retaining old customers is as valuable as gaining new ones. Surely some valuable connections had been itching to reconnect. This is the perfect time to share a cup of tea together, virtually or physically, or even a simple call or message, to revive your old connections.
Connect With Like-minded Entrepreneurs: Connecting with other entrepreneurs in similar situations is highly motivating. As Michele Jennae said, “Networking is not about just connecting people. It’s about connecting people with people, people with ideas, and people with opportunities.” You can connect with like-minded entrepreneurs at groups like Atlanta Business Network where seminars can help you build on your current skill set with new tools.
Network With Similar Industries: An age-old habit for entrepreneurs is to reinvent the wheel. Whatever industry you are in, it has been done before. Connect and network to such industries and learn from them. Every little experiential knowledge helps to avoid potential mistakes and find better ways of doing things.
Being Sherlock Holmes
“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.” – Peter F. Drucker
It’s that time to look for that change. It’s time to sit down with a cup of coffee and laptop to do some research. Zoom into the following topics and develop an edge to your understanding of entrepreneurship.
- Start-up funding sources and effectiveness
- Measuring the success of start-ups, a matrix model
- Entrepreneurship literature and future evolution
- Intrapreneurship and innovation
- Effectiveness of entrepreneurship development programs
It’s important that we focus on the latest trends prevailing in the market and research helps us get a clearer picture of the current products and services in demand. It’s also important to know how our competitors are doing compared to us amidst the chaos and find out areas where we might be lacking. This is that time to explore the unknown and light up your understanding. So, get your research cap on and be Sherlock Holmes. Get into an online adventure along the paths of entrepreneurship.
Enlightening Innovation
What the world thrives for is, Ideas and Innovations! The newer ideas you bring the more you stand out and are eligible to run the race of versatility.
It’s really a great time that you get your innovative business blog going! Blogs certainly are hitting up the trend of business and while you are home – locked up, so are the customers. And it’s a good time that you write up innovative blogs about your business and Viola! After your business starts these blogs can be the source to bring in more customers and give a success tint to your stagnant business!
For an entrepreneur, their website is one of their most valuable assets. Your website is your hub for making sales. If there are no visits, will there be sales? Of course not! Your site’s aesthetic and style are equally as important as the purchasing experience your customers go through. So it’s time that you check if your website is insightful and innovative enough to appeal to your audience.
Growing up again
The New York Times Bestseller by Tony Robbins- Money: Master the Game book has the fact illustrated that business success is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics. It is important that you yourself are stable before stabilizing your business. During this stagnant time, it is a great time to dive into the e-learning sites like the HubSpot Academy, Udemy and Inc.edu and enrich yourself with the goodness of extra skills for a flourishing business.
There are always horizons to explore, interpersonal skills to develop and know yourself more to grow a bit more than yesterday! “Live More and Worry Less!” That is what we should keep at the very depths of our mind when our business is running slow! So, pull up your chair and set up your laptop and spark some new perspective at this time of slow business. Who knows when this opportunity may come again!
