No matter how we try, we would never be able to go back to how things were before the pandemic. So many things have changed over the past months that would be difficult to reverse. The mindset of people has been influenced by the events that transpired. And although subtly, a change in thinking could greatly affect lifestyles.
As businesses have been greatly restrained the past months, the current situation might be a good time to reopen some businesses. People would also be clamoring for some semblance of normalcy and looking for things they used to do before the pandemic. As not all could recover, you could be at an advantage if you resume operations now.
However, you must proceed with precautionary measures and a good understanding of the business environment. Here are a few things you need to look at before deciding to reopen your business.
Viability of your location
The usual hangouts of people have changed. Although some would be missing their usual haunts, those wary of crowds would be avoiding the places they anticipate would have a lot of people. Your location might have contributed to your success before with crowds, but that might not be the situation now.
On the other hand, there might be good spots that are now available because of the closing up of many shops at the start of the pandemic. Check the rates of local movers and weigh if it’s worth the hassle.
If you could set up strict precautionary measures, you would still be able to attract customers without having them crowd your place. Although it’s not the usual business option, you have to limit the number of people you would cater, so that they could be properly distanced from each other. If you were a place with many patrons before, you could set up an appointment system to cater to your clientele.
Assess the relevance of your products
Over the past few months, people’s preferences have changed a lot. Because of the threat of the disease, health has become the top priority to many. If your products could affect a person’s health, customers might be wary of them despite their convenience. For example, with more options now for healthy foods, demand for processed food known to affect the immune system could go down.
If you had been following the trends of how people coped with the lockdowns and the items selling during that time, you would have some knowledge about some shifts in consumer activities. For example, many have taken the hobby of making homemade bread. Right now, offices have not exactly resumed their normal working hours.
So those customers who had been busy rushing to and from their offices and relied on bakeries would still have the time to make their fresh bread. If you had been operating a bakery before, you would know where to get wholesale ingredients. Consider supplying for their baking needs at this time. You could offer to deliver them to make them prefer you over other suppliers.
Availability of your materials
Finally, you need to check if you would be able to operate with the supplies’ limitations. Although most productions have resumed worldwide, there would still be a gap in supply since there were months when production had been brought to a standstill.
Look for new suppliers or alternative supplies if you could. Are you a café that’s dependent on imported coffee beans? Try locally produced beans. It would be cheaper and would help the economy.
Reopening your business would greatly help with the economy right now. If you plan it thoroughly, you should think positively. With preparations, you could take advantage of the new possibilities that have opened now.