Survivability during economical instability is key to sustaining a business to achieve its intended long-term purpose. Keeping the dream alive requires a thriving business, one that is still living and breathing in all aspects of commerce.

A multitude of hard and wise decisions needs to be made immediately to ensure business continuity.

Below are 10 practical things you can do as a business owner to ensure your business survive and thrive during this pandemic and economic meltdown.

1. Embrace Digital and Tech

Don’t think of digital transformation as a high-tech miracle technology. It is a mindset, a way of working, a lifestyle. Find the right tools to make your systems better.

2. Communicate Effectively

Whether it is internal or external communication, keep it to the right channel and methods of communication. Be brief and relevant when it is needed, always read the context and be as informative as you can be when the need arises.

3. Produce Free Content

Content is still king. Get into the habit of producing content for your customers, community and team members. The more content you roll out, the higher chances of you speaking to the right audience that can be beneficial to your business.

4. Increase Social (Virtual) Connection

More than ever now, virtual connections are needed to keep your team members in unity and passionate towards a common goal. Allow time for your team members to discuss non-work topics, build relationships and connect with one another.

5. Drive Company Culture

The values and habits that guide your company’s behaviour help to align your team’s perspective and synchronises their perspective. If your company does not have a set of values that drive your corporate culture, this is the time to work on it.

6. Save, Save, Save!

You need to start saving wherever you can. Cut any expenses that were previously a luxury and go back to basics. Introduce pay deferments, shorter working hours, unpaid leaves, reduce office space rental.

7. Work From Home

Embrace new ways of working. Continue to work from home, set up proper infrastructure to help your team be productive. Adopt Cloud services, use task management tools, virtual chats, video conferencing. If needed, restructure your team to focus on other areas.

8. Collaborate

Don’t compete with one another. Find complementary services / products and partner with them. Work with (overseas) partners to tap into a broader market and community. Allow a collaborative spirit to help one another survive and thrive.

9. Expand Your Borders

Go global. While hyperlocal is extremely relevant in marketing and branding now, it is also a great time to look beyond your borders. Where else you can “milk” from? Use digital and tech to help you reach overseas customers. Build new income sources.

10. In All Things, be WISE

There are many instant decisions to be made. Know your belief system, principles and intentions, stand by it. As a leader / business owner, seek wisdom and make wise decisions based on facts, your gut feeling and prioritise.

In these times, you need to survive for the now and live for the dream tomorrow. All the best and Godspeed.