How the Pandemic Has Changed Small Business
Holy cow! It’s March 2021 and we’re about one year into the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking back at the last twelve months, we’ve seen a lot of pivots and shifts with small businesses and creative solutions from our clients who are figuring out each day how to make it work. Here are some of the best ways we’ve seen businesses adjust their offerings to accommodate the everchanging rules and keep their customers safe.
Get Creative With In Person Interactions
Our friends at Pack Athletics have managed to keep staff and athletes in masks, with hands and shoes sanitized (for stunting) as well as increased facility cleaning requirements for the last year. Our clients who host live events, like the Charleston Cup and the Atlanta Centennial Classic have reduced session sizes and the number of spectators, increased spacing at the venue, and offered athlete medals in sealed bags for extra protection.
Take Your Services Online
Other clients who normally deliver in person offerings have pivoted to online for the time being. The Charleston Child Trauma Conference made their annual event virtual in 2020, and many of the consultants we work with are doing strategy sessions via Zoom instead of traveling to client sites (as are therapists and other service providers). Some are also creating a hybrid approach with limited travel or face-to-face meetings and the rest done virtually, like Capitol Places offering FaceTime property tours and additional forms online.
Expand Your Online Presence
Scheduling
Another big pivot we’ve seen is adding the Squarespace Scheduling tool to an existing web site, like our client PatternShifts. They began offering virtual executive and group coaching sessions that can be booked and paid for online, syncing with the three Managing Partners’ calendars to show availability. The Scheduling tool also captures client info through an intake form, covers terms of use, offers packages and subscriptions, and sends auto-reminders for appointments.
Membership
Some clients, like Charleston JSJ, were already offering a password protected membership area on their web site that clients could pay for monthly. Squarespace has recently rolled out new Member Areas where you can sell access to premium content, online classes, and manage your members (each with a unique account and login) and process payments automatically.
Sell Online
There’s also been a big push towards selling products online, which can be done through Squarespace Ecommerce—allowing you to sell physical and digital products through your virtual storefront (Shopify is also great for this) while keeping customers on your site. Third party print-on-demand services like Printful.com and Printify.com also make it easy to sell a wide variety of products online (while also taking care of fulfillment and shipping), and we LOVE Lulu Xpress for printing books on demand!
Stay in Touch
The final thing that has increased substantially in the last year are increased marketing efforts and engagement with existing clients. This strategy often includes a new or increased social media presence, special online events, online communities, virtual co-working sessions, and lots of Zoom coffee dates (which can also be set up using Scheduling!). We’ve also seen more clients ramping up their email newsletters through the Squarespace Email Marketing functionality (which we use here at Due West!) or third party sites like MailChimp. Staying connected has been hugely important for repeat business, referrals, and support.
So while things are looking more promising in 2021 for in person interactions, we’re hoping this gives you some additional ideas on how your business can expand or pivot in the future. And of course we’re happy to help help! Digital offerings not only allow you to meet customers’ needs during pandemic times, they allow you to reach a wider audience and grow your customer base in a whole new way going forward.
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