Blog post by: Evan Mathu, Baer Performance Marketing Intern
If one could picture small business in the US as a building with fragile foundations, the pandemic has been an earthquake off the Richter Scale. Business closures ate up months of potential revenue, and enhanced safety barriers and procedures have burned through many businesses’ cash reserves.
In the era of COVID-19, business owners and employees have been faced with numerous unfamiliar difficulties: mask mandates, social distancing, enhanced sanitary measures, and serious fluctuations in customer habits. The ripple effect of the pandemic seems less like ripples and more like tidal waves, and the echoing question from businesses is, “When will things go back to normal?” This question, simple in nature, is infinitely more difficult to answer and remains one of the most relevant topics to business today.
Scientists and medical experts say that COVID-19 will likely be around ad infinitum, just as the flu and common cold are. This news is less worrying than it sounds — as vaccines are tried and tested, and immunity is built across the world, the need to implement hindering policies will decrease significantly. The World Health Organization, however, says vaccines might not be ready until mid-2021, meaning this “new normal” of hyper-sanitization and distancing isn’t something that businesses can simply brush off. After testing a successful vaccine, it will take weeks to ramp up production and distribute inoculations to the general population. Though it feels like it has been forever since the beginning of this disastrous pandemic, the race may not even be half run.
Even after the pandemic is quelled, many leading business analysts think consumer habits may be permanently changed. Businesses must adapt to a rapidly growing e-commerce market and seriously consider their supply chains to account for disruptions. Businesses cannot avoid change in the world of COVID-19 and certainly cannot cling to (or wish too hard for the return of) the “old normal.” Rather, businesses must stay on the cutting edge and develop alongside the challenges they face. In the words of William Burroughs, “When you stop growing, you start dying.” To survive the harsh climate of COVID-19, businesses mustn’t be afraid to adapt and embrace many changes, including growing their e-commerce platform and digital marketing presence.
If COVID-19 has you worried about your business, know you don’t have to face this challenge alone. Here at Baer, we can help you promote your business and adapt to this “new normal”. Find us @baerpm on social media or on our website to learn more!
Sources
https://fortune.com/2020/05/01/business-reopen-economy-coronavirus-new-normal/
https://www.axios.com/small-business-coronavirus-expenses-87b59746-7a44-45e8-b1d9-3c6e56735b1a.html
https://piercemarrs.com/2016/08/if-youre-not-growing-youre-dying/