How To Develop A Business Continuity Plan for the Coronavirus

Many business owners at this time are wondering what will happen to my business? How will I put food on the table and keep a roof over my head?

As the news breaks out about the Coronavirus outbreak and its effects on the historic stock market plunge, school shutdowns, storefronts closing down for weeks, possibly months.

How are you handling this situation?

Thousands of business owners and entrepreneurs are voicing their concerns on social media, forums, and podcasts about what will happen to their clients, employees, and to the future of their business.

After talking to countless entrepreneurs and business owners, the overall sentiment of this time of uncertainty….is the FEAR of what is happening in this day and age.

It is that same feeling...FEAR that holds back many entrepreneurs from achieving this true potential in their business and getting to the point in their business where they ascend from struggling to thriving in their business.

There is power behind how you use language to describe who you are, who you want to become, and how you make micro-decisions throughout your life that ultimately shapes your future. Once you control your mindset and develop that confidence and determination, setting up the train tracks towards success becomes a lot easier.

After fear is removed from the equation and we are in control of our mindset...how do we proceed with creating a business continuity plan for the Coronavirus and also build a recession-proof business to handle these turbulent waves in the economy?

Here are three tips towards protecting your business during the midst of a pandemic:

1. Diversifying your business income

One is the most dangerous number in your business, as soon as the only source of income into your business becomes depleted, your entire business can be on the verge of collapse. Have multiple systems in place so that you aren’t selling your product and services by yourself but are also leveraging affiliate marketing, joint ventures, podcasts, social media to provide valuable content and also place your offers to sell through these channels.

2. Consider moving your service-based business into digital formats

In this time of social distancing, a lot more people are working from home and consuming digital content in the form of video, online courses, podcasts, social media, etc. If you are a service provider and you are able to inform and educate people using your skills and expertise, digital content can also be a great way to market your product to reach the billions across the world through the internet and scale your business by doing the same amount of work but being able to multiply your profits through the use of technology.

3. Pivoting your business in favor of thriving industries

Whether it was the 2008 housing meltdown, or the Coronavirus outbreak, with every crisis that affected the economy, there has always been a number of industries that are thriving in the midst of recessions.

The ability of a business to make calculated pivots in their business operations can be crucial in times of crisis or unpredictable circumstances. Maintaining a healthy cash flow reserve and finding those industries that are thriving and figuring out how you can partner or mimic the way they handle business can be a potential option to keep your finances healthy.

For example, if you have a brick and mortar clothing shop that has a physical location that sells clothes. If people are placed in lockdown where they can not leave their homes because of a pandemic or natural disaster -- Can you partner with a delivery company to have the clothing delivered to those families that need it the most?

The fear of uncertainty and not knowing what will happen next -- is a potential fear that many may face. But on the same merit, it may be noteworthy to also remember that not one financial breakdown history has ever lasted forever. After some time, fears of the economy and the state of the world subsided, the markets slowly recovered back to its normal state.

Reaching out to others in the time of social distancing to make sure you are in a healthy mindset and making the calculated business pivots to recession-proof your business -- can help you with not only surviving but thriving through this storm.