The COVID-19 pandemic has left us reeling from the sheer scope and speed by which it spread across our country. Many businesses were absolutely unprepared for the necessity of revamping major infrastructures, processes, and strategies to accommodate not only customers and partners, but employees as well. This is even more true for small businesses.
Small businesses were blindsided by the impact of the pandemic and left whirling from the lack of government support and guidance in the midst of it. Many failed. Many more have seen record declines in revenue and are unsure of their continued sustainability.
The ability to pivot and respond to the current environment has become prerequisite for continuation.
Businesses who invested in a strong digital footprint have an advantage. Working with partners such as Salesforce and Accenture, some businesses are able to implement new strategies and reimagine existing ones. However, smaller businesses who relied on in-house processes experience supply chain challenges and struggle to maintain engagement with their ever decreasing customer base.
More than ever, we realize the importance of agility and creating multiple strategy approaches. It’s a perfect time to revamp antiquated processes and explore how novel and innovative digital technologies can be incorporated into the path forward.
While some technology trends for small businesses may prove to be labor and cost intensive to implement, others are fairly simple and can be managed with little fanfare. The main message is to keep moving forward. Maybe baby steps if necessary, but if COVID-19 has taught us anything, it has underscored the importance of staying connected, and sometimes that means embracing innovation - even on a small scale - and making sure we always have more than one path to our destinations.