21 Oct
Grow Your Business, Productivity

How to Position Your Business for Survival During the Pandemic.

The Coronavirus has hit the economy of the world hard, knocking a lot of businesses out totally. Large and small companies alike have felt the effect of the pandemic. With the world in a state of uncertainty and flux, making plans and projections for your business can be quite tricky. Now more than ever, the flexibility and dexterity of small and medium scale businesses is an advantage.

Leveraging this advantage is crucial to your survival in your industry. After the dust settles, a lot of business would be long gone, and only a few would survive. While this is a genuinely sad affair, it also translates to tremendous opportunities for the companies that manage to survive.
After a recession, there is a boom.

With both the demand and supply sides of the market shrinking to survive, the world’s economy is receding. However, a boom is coming, and your actions now would determine if you would miss it or ride it to success and growth.

How to position your business

Here are a few tips on keeping your business alive and in position for the incoming boom.

1. Go digital.

This is quickly becoming an obvious necessity. The need to reduce human contact to the barest minimum has shot up on the list of priorities of all serious-minded entrepreneurs.

Utilizing online and digital resources as much as possible now has the added advantage of keeping your staff and customers safe. Customers feel safer working with brands that they know are conscious of health and safety recommendations.

Right now, the best way to show your customers that you care is by reducing physical contact with them and looking out for their safety.

2. Digital Marketing

In a bid to reduce physical contact and keep your customers safe, you might end up alienating them. Looking out for your customer’s health and following all guidelines can keep your old customers and even attract new customers. Clients are bound to leave brands and firms that seem nonchalant about the risks of the pandemic.

However, maintaining a deep and individualized connection with your customers is still very important. Going digital isn’t an excuse to give your customers mechanized or robotic customer service.

Customer care and customer experience must always be at the forefront of all your customer relations activity.

This is where digital marketing comes in. Your marketing team must create quality and relatable content that would attract new customers and keep your old customers connected to your brand.

3. Keep your Staff Flexible.

Clearly, with a change in the business world, there would be a change in the workload. While some departments would be basically jobless, some departments would be overworked.

For example, your production department might be overstaffed right now as demand is significantly reduced. Meanwhile, your marketing team is struggling to keep up with the task of creating content and staying in touch with customers.

As entrepreneurs, keeping a flexible onboarded team is our watchword. Keep your team up to date with the firm’s current state and let them come up with ideas on how they can serve the firm better.

Do not shy away from encouraging your teammates to utilize their hidden talent for the business’s success. It is high time that the employee with excellent people’s skills leaves the production floor to handle the numerous messages from prospective clients.

4. Be Flexible and Informed.

There is a lot of information flying around. This adds more to panic and uncertainty. However, as entrepreneurs, we must keep our eyes and ears open for the latest and verified information in our market and industry. Large chunks of Data are available for your analysis.

Find reliable sources and utilize them. Notice the trends going on in the market and react accordingly. What are your customers asking for and what are your competitors doing right or wrong.

The goal of a business is to meet a need. With the pandemic changing the world, the needs of consumers are changing. Your ability to adjust to meet those needs would go a long way in determining your business’s survival and subsequent growth.

Get informed, analyze, and take action.

Conclusion

The pandemic is bound to leave some lasting effects on the business world. The way we transact and socialize is bound to change forever. During this transition phase, your ability to make timely and necessary adjustments to your business strategy would help secure your success in the business world. As an entrepreneur, you must be ready and willing to try new things. Be bold and flexible, and you would ride the coming boom to greatness.

16 Aug
Grow Your Business, Start Your Business

Website Launch: My Pandemic Pivot

Over the past few months, businesses have seen the effects of the global pandemic. They have faced closures and combat emotions of loss and lack. Now is the time to figure out the new normal now. Make your pandemic pivot! How many times have you heard that? Our immediate next steps are unknown. So, what can businesses do to stay ahead in the pandemic (and everything else in 2020)?

My Pandemic Pivot

People may be tired of hearing the “pandemic pivot” but I can attest, it’s a real thing. My decision to redesign my website and re-introduce my brand was not one made lightly. In December, 2019. I hired a coach to help me stay focused on the big picture. I planned some really cool events and more. As we began to make plans, I thought I had all the pieces in place. And then, the world changed.

One of the components of this plan was to redesign this website. I weighed the pros and cons with a focus on the budget. This is a time to stack, I thought, not a time for big purchases. It just didn’t seem like a smart decision. Many days, I would chuckle at my focus to plan growth goals instead of watch the news. Planning for moving forward, while it felt like time was standing still, what was I doing? Surprisingly, I think this is the “thing” that grounded me, amid chaos.

My message since March has been to remain focused and grounded. To keep going. Respect your feelings. Celebrate the wins. And, don’t forget to show yourself grace. For all these reasons, I had to figure out a workaround for the budget. Without many ideas, I reached out to a creative circle of friends. Whether they were cheering me on or lending their skill to get the job done, all were vital and needed.

Pivot, Position & Profit

If you haven’t guessed it, I’m here to share more about what I was working on (see blog title). And let me say, having my super friends support, was everything. I’m moved by their energy and expertise. They make me want to do more. I needed to do more. First, I created Position2Profit.com. This is a community for business owners to share and support while learning yours truly. And it’s in this community that I teach business lessons, share years of expertise and giveaway some goodies!

Next, I took 50% off some products in my shop. I want to build a community where business owners have support, accountability and motivation, like I do. That special circle of friends fueled me . They dedicated time and value to the redesign of allisontodd.com. As such, I hope to help and inspire others.

The energy, the late nights, the intricate details ….all the reasons I kept going on the many days when it felt easier to stare out of the window. The feeling of putting your heart into your vision, is unique and fulfilling. Creating something special and impactful is just what the doctor ordered.

What About the Team?

While wanting to stare out of that proverbial window, I wondered if it made sense to keep the team. Would I have enough work to keep them busy? They wanted to keep working. So, I figured out a way. And Team SiMar jumped all in. They managed work projects and collaborated with curiosity and creativity. I think working on the website and the new packages and products was a good dose of what all needed. Thankfully, my pivot project kept us busy and active.

During this time, I understood how crucial coaching and guidance is to entrepreneurship. I can’t help but wonder how many business owners need someone to help them find their reset button. How many more business owners needed to hear my message? How many needed superfriends in their life? Maybe 456 because that’s how many Position 2 Profit members we have so far. I want us all to win. Creating this website will help me to find more business owners with a story, untold.

The Keys to the Digital Door

With that, I snap the digital red ribbon and open the virtual doors to allisontodd.com. Today, August 16, 2020, I announce the relaunching of my website. My intentions are to ensure that I am more available in a digital space. To motivate and inspire business owners. To guide them in the positioning of their businesses and their brand. To assist them in building profitable teams. And to offer my expertise and information where it is needed.

I’m hopeful this site will help me reach a wider audience and solve more problems. Eagerly, I share my knowledge with brands and businesses. My goal to position businesses to profit and scale. I want to do my part to make the world of entrepreneurship a better place. In the meantime, I promised my twins I would move the launch up a day, today, their birthday. And here we are, let’s celebrate!

P.S. Please share your feedback. I would love to know what you think.

20 May
Grow Your Business, Interview

Coach Allison Todd Interviews Tee Thomas

Every business owner has a different experience as they meet the challenges of COVID-19. Listen as Coach Allison Todd interviews Tee Thomas, Founder of Formation Salon & Spa.

Before the pandemic, Tee was working on the construction of her newly acquired location. As she prepared for her grand opening, she continued to make minor updates. Then she decided to hire a new business team. Many business owners understand the responsibilities Tee had to juggle both while safe at home and in order to reopen in June. However, she would need more than understanding to implement the necessary changes.

Like many, she had many things to consider. She redesigned one of her suites specifically for high risk and older clients. After days of cleaning and sanitation, there is still much to complete. During the interview, Tee shares more about why its her responsibility to press forward and be of service to others.

And now, not only is she prepared to open her business doors, she wants to position herself to lead others during these uncertain times. Tee says, “We’ve been delayed but not denied. We must press forward.”