Keep Cash Coming In The Door, Ways To Prop Up Your Revenue During COVID-19

Keeping the cash coming in the door is one of the biggest concerns for small businesses during these unprecedented times. Business owners need to get creative about delivering services to their customers.

Below are some of the creative ways that people can and are adapting to the new circumstances and ensuring that their revenue keeps coming in.

Food Service And Grocery

For restaurants, cafes and bars, footfall is critical for business, so what happens when people are told to stay home? This is where joining home delivery services, or starting your own using your social media channels, can help.

Offering discounted gift vouchers for future use is another way to get people paying now for use later.

If you are a small grocery or greengrocery business, offering home delivery to your local area can really help. You may want to offer fixed price boxes of goods or a bespoke ordering service. Keep your delivery costs down by offering it to your local area and advertise through community social media spaces, or an old-fashioned direct mail letter drop.

Retail Shops

The same can apply for retail shops. Offering home delivery to your local area can really help. You may want to offer fixed price boxes of goods or a bespoke ordering service. Keep your delivery costs down by offering it to your local area and advertise through community social media spaces, or an old-fashioned direct mail letter drop in your area.

This may also be the time to set up an online selling platform.

Hotels And Other Accommodation Providers

Hotels and other accommodation providers could offer discounts for future date bookings with a small percentage down payment upfront. Gift vouchers for future use are also a good way to secure revenue now.

Showcasing your ability to manage out-of-townees who are in quarantine is another option. Joining up with other local businesses to offer food baskets for people trapped in rooms, delivery of books and games and other services could also help.

Service Providers

There are many service providers that can provide virtual support, but there is a whole raft of service providers that can only deliver their service face-to-face, such as hairdressers, beauticians, dentists, plumbers and other tradespeople, vets and home social care providers. In this instance, it will be crucial to let customers know what measures you have taken to keep them safe.

For place-based services, such as hairdressers and dentists, advertising that you have adequate social distancing options in place, such as 1.5m between customer chairs, low contact at reception and regular cleaning activities. Some services such as hairdressers and vets can also offer home visits.

For travelling services such as plumbers and other tradespeople and home social care providers need to advertise how they are managing the exposure of their workforce and managing cleaning in a mobile environment.

Providers Of Indoor Classes

For those businesses providing indoor classes such as yoga and Pilates, music lessons, dance and visual arts, there are a number of options. Limiting the numbers in class to allow for social distancing and providing hand washing options is one of the options.

Another is to explore providing discount price subscription online classes with the instructor in the classroom, but the participants are at home. This will require some digital set up and may exclude some customers who are not comfortable in the digital environment, or do not have equipment at home. Some thought would need to be given to what equipment people could use at home to participate.

There are many options for businesses to try and keep the revenue coming in the door.  The solution will be a local solution first for small businesses, and then cast a wider net from there.  Build relationships with your existing customers, reward them for their loyalty, in a cost effective but meaningful way that tells them you care.

The virus will change peoples behaviour, think about the now, and be ready for when customer behaviour returns to normal, or the new normal.