Leading a young business through COVID-19

On March 11, the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a pandemic, prompting countries around the world to take measures to contain the spread of the virus. In Singapore, the original month-long circuit breaker period has been extended, with an expectation of a long march to normalcy.

As a young business, it is understandable that you will worry about whether you will survive the coming months. Use this circuit breaker to your advantage — while you may be unable to operate as usual, you can still be productive.

Review your financial position

In recent times, you might have been busy getting your business off the ground. With things slowing down, now is a good time to take a step back and scrutinize your financial statements. Identify your cost drivers. Are there certain expenses which have crept up? What is the reason and can you bring them under control?

Review your profit margins for each item. Popularity and profitability don’t always go hand in hand; a top-selling product may not be the most profitable and a highly profitable product may not have the highest demand.

Try identifying the factors which made your top-selling product successful and explore how to transfer this winning formula to your products with higher profit margins. Strategize ways to promote your more profitable products — one way could be to bundle them with the most popular products.

Having accurate data at your fingertips is key to assessing your financial position and this can be easily achieved if your accounts are kept up-to-date. If you have yet to set up a proper accounting system, consider adopting a digital app such as Xero which can be accessed anywhere, anytime and save you time and effort from doing your accounts manually.

If you are having trouble doing your accounts on your own, digital accounting service providers such as OSOME can help you remotely.

Retain customers

You have probably spent a lot of time and effort acquiring your customers, so take care not to lose them. Continue to reassure them that your business will endure.

In the meantime, to ensure you give them the best service, take the time to organise your customer information with a proper CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system such as Capsule.

With all the information in one place, you can analyse who your most profitable customers are and identify their profiles, so that you can set up a more targeted sales approach once the COVID-19 storm blows over.

If you have a team of salespeople, using a CRM system allows them to report their sales stages so you can track their progress without face-to-face meetings. Just like Xero, Capsule is part of OCBC’s Start Digital Pack, which allows you to use selected business apps for free for at least 6 months.

Understand your customers better

While waiting for business-as-usual to resume, you can also conduct market research on customers and competitors. Consider executing surveys or organising online focus groups to obtain feedback. What are your business’ strengths and weaknesses? What do your customers want? These insights could give you ideas to improve your business.

If your research reveals a gap between what your customers want and what you are selling, it is time to relook your product offerings. With your spare time, scout around for suitable suppliers and work out some deals so that your offering remains fresh and exciting to your customers.

If you are in the F&B industry, you can also use this time to experiment with the new recipes you have been meaning to try, but never had the time to. Who knows, you might have a new menu to offer in the future!

Make the most of the month-long circuit breaker

We hope our tips will help you get through this circuit breaker period. It may be a tough time for young startups but persevering through the difficulties will make your business stronger.

For more tips on how to operate your business, visit our business starter kit.