How North East Businesses are Surviving the Lockdown
The UK has now been in lockdown for over seven weeks, and despite the Government doing their best in these unprecedented times, many businesses are struggling to survive. Unfortunately, it’s a sad fact that some businesses simply won’t make it through the Coronavirus pandemic.
It isn’t all doom and gloom though. Many business owners are finding new ways to survive and even thrive. I have spent the last 7 weeks of lockdown helping other small businesses to adapt so they can continue to trade. Whether that’s by turning their website into an online shop, improving their online presence or even by moving their entire business online.
I thought I’d write this blog post to let you know how other small businesses are adapting in the hope that it helps other businesses do the same.
Here are some things you can do:
Turn Your Website into an Online Shop
If you already have a website for your business, it might be possible to turn this into an Ecommerce site (online shop) so that your customers can still continue to buy your products.
AD Fixings Ltd contacted me a few days after the lockdown began. They already had a WordPress website, but no online shop. Their business effectively stopped due to the lockdown. I added the facility for customers to be able to buy their products online, and I also made the website more user friendly for their customers so that their business can continue to trade.
If you want to start selling products from your website, speak to your web developer and ask them if they can do this for you. It might not be as expensive as you think, and if they’re anything like me, they’ll let you spread the costs so you’re not investing lots of money when things are already so tough.
Move Your Business Online
If you are in the health & fitness industry and customers usually visit you at your studio or gym, you will have been forced to close your doors due to the lockdown restrictions. This does not mean that your business has to stop trading though!
Pilates North East in Chester le Street were in this predicament when lockdown began. They now have a lovely new website, all of their classes are being held online via Zoom, and customers can easily book & pay for as many classes as they want online. The whole system is integrated with the new website, making it easier for customers and greatly reducing admin time too! Everything just works automatically and customers are continuing their online Pilates classes as well as enjoying the social aspect of the classes.
