Have you shifted your business online yet? Why not?
There has been plenty of uncertainty in business this year.
From the impacts of the pandemic on employees, how and when a business can operate, various stages of lockdown and increased hygiene measures, it feels like each week has brought a new challenge.
One thing we can be certain of as we sit here right now is that online has become the key pillar on which businesses will have to build to ensure their survival beyond this pandemic.
Whether you have already made steps to expand your online presence, or you’re still getting your head around ways to best utilise the internet for your business, it is clear that how you adapt your business to the new normal is crucial.
The Coles Group recently announced they were increasing their digital spend by up to 50 per cent to reflect changes in shopping habits and to better reach their customers, and it’s pretty clear that small businesses should be following suit.
This could mean looking at Google advertising, or opportunities with Facebook or Twitter advertising as a way of reaching new customers. It could also be establishing an online sales portal.
Obviously, every business is different and will have to adapt differently, and many have already been forced to move their business away from a shopfront and into the online space to get through the pandemic. But for those that have yet to make the jump the time is definitely now.
Another important phenomenon I’d like to mention is the news this week that there are currently 13,000 jobs being advertised online as ‘work from home’, which gives some sort of insight into the current landscape and also the potential future of the workplace.
First of all, it is a positive that these jobs are out there for people, and that employers are looking to fill vacancies in the current climate. But it’s also a look at a key way in which business has adapted throughout 2020, and that new employees can expect more of this moving forwards.
Business owners have seen that it is possible to conduct interviews and run a business remotely, and I think more working from home positions will become available as we continue to learn and adapt to the ‘Covid normal’.
