Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of businesses either resorted to remote working or have unfortunately shut down during lockdown. Many businesses, especially small businesses, have greatly felt the impacts of this economic crisis.

As the world is preparing to bounce back from this devastation with help of the vaccine, many small businesses will need to reface and begin a new build-up for their company and look to see how they can rebuild what was lost and continue growing with in the future.

The first step and reopening your business

The first step businesses should take is preparing their staff for post-lockdown business operations. As companies are allowing their employees to return to the office, there need to be safety precautions to ensure all employees are kept safe and healthy upon returning to the office. 

Such precautions consist of:

Develop an individualized and personal return to the office

This return should abide by the local and state-level requirements of safely returning to the working office. For example, to start with re-introduce a smaller group of staff back to the office and ensure that face coverings are used. If you own a customer-facing business such as a shop make sure that customers are aware of social distancing rules that pertain to store entering.

Procedures and isolation

Draw up procedures for when for those who have been exposed to or have tested positive. This should include sick-pay and staff cover if this were to happen. Ensure that employees are aware of these procedures beforehand to minimise the spread of the infection and make sure everyone else is safe. Of course, these decisions should be made according to official government guidelines. 

Health checks

Next, incorporate health checks in everyday workplace culture. This can look like taking employees temperature or monitoring symptoms that correlate to the Coronavirus. Make sure each employee takes this crisis seriously and set up precautions where employees who do have a high temperature should not attend the office or the business establishment. 

High-risk

Those who pose as high-risk individuals who are more susceptible to COVID-19 should take extra precaution. These employees experience more severe symptoms compared to a healthy individual. Maintain social distancing within the office and implement sanitary workstations

One Way hallways are great to limit shoulder-to-shoulder contact of employees. This is a great social distancing precaution.

Update new company hours

Before reopening your business, update your company hours. You can update your hours through Google, Yelp, social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. This will let your customers know how and when your company is operating. When informing your customers of the new hours, also include safety requirements your company is enforcing in order to maintain the safety of staff and clients.

Reface your content

By creating new and improved content, customers excitement will build. Today, the use of social media to promote one’s service is one of the main techniques companies use. If you noticed your company is experiencing a decline in their social media presence due to COVID 19, creating new content may interest customers in a different way and interest them more than ever.

Go live on social media

Today, the majority of social media platforms have a live feature. By creating live content, customers can create a more personal relationship with the company increasing customer satisfaction. This can also be a great way of releasing new campaigns or content.

Final thoughts

The current pandemic has impacted everyone's lives in an immense way, shutting the entire world down. However, by utilizing social distancing measures and keeping your office space sanitized, reopening may slowly occur. Once the first step of reopening has been completed, businesses can then focus on rebranding their company. This can be seen through the use of social media. Social media has never been more prevalent than today.

Especially during the quarantine, the main Outlet of communication was conducted through social media. Businesses should take advantage of this low-cost platform and use it for their company's wellbeing. Creating new content and going live on Instagram or Facebook are great alternatives to the outdated marketing strategies many companies used pre-COVID pandemic.