This crisis is your opportunity

"When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters -- one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity." John F. Kennedy

As a small business owner or an entrepreuner, you are not alone if you are stressed or overwhelmed now trying to deal with COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing has made changes and continues to make great imapct on consumer behaviours. It becomes more critical than ever to re-strategize your busines plans to adapt these changes.

Get ahead of other players in the market and make effective changes to your business now, you will not only survive through this crisis, but to build a solid foundation for post-pandemic time.

Below are steps you can follow suggested by business professionals:

1. Stay connected with your customers

Your customers are going through a challenging time as you do. Reach out to them to find out how they are dealing with the situation. Share sympathy, NOT your sales pitch. This is the oppotunity to show you care about them.

2. Show active and postive online presents

The business might be temporarily closed, your website and social media accounts shouldn't be. Take this oppotunity to build a community and followers, and disguish your business from others.

3. Time to innovate

Finally your calendar is cleared from business travellings and social gatherings, you have extra time to be creative. Pick up those business ideas you didn't get to explore or innovate products or business models. The luxury of having so much time at home only comes once a life time, hopefully.

4. Spend Smart

At any time, as a business owner, you need to manage your cashflow carefully. During the pendamic, especially so. Here are some ideas you can consider:

• Can you move into a smaller office, provide shared work stations and let your employees to work from home

• Is a full time office staff necessary if you can hire a virtual assistant as a contractor

• Get help from experts to set up and manage your online business and marketing

Challenging time is never easy, stay positive and focus on how you can turn it into your opportunities. If ever you get overwhelmed, MyOfficeManager is here to help.