5
COVID-19
Will Your Business Survive the Pandemic?
A
Lisbeth Calandrino Flooring Specialist and Associate Publisher and Director of Social Media for Fabulous Floors Magazine
s a businessperson, you are always looking for opportunities; ways you can sell more goods and make more money. That’s part of being in business and an entrepreneur. However, with the virus, there are so many restrictions that you must be cautious, or you may not be able to sell at all. If you can sell, this is not the time to appear as if you are taking advantage of anyone. The national ads have caught on quickly; lots of ads about caring for their customers. This is not the time for broadcasting discounts; consumers have bigger problems in their minds. At the writing of this, it appears that the entire country is basically in quarantine. Everyone is affected by what’s going on and being hit in their pocketbooks. We will get out of this but a lot of it will depend on how we view humanity in general. We must be cautious; we’ve been told we can’t be closer than six feet from another person and yet a couple of restaurants in my city were caught serving dinner and liquor. It’s scary, and each of us must do our part if we are going to get out of this. Imagine if you don’t heed the warning to stop meeting in large groups, we run the risk of infecting other people and causing the death of another human. It appears that not everyone is taking that seriously and inadvertently maybe making someone sick.
What can you do to get through this? Here are my thoughts:
Hunker down and take financial stock of your business. You will probably have to make some difficult decisions over the next few weeks or have already done so.
1. Hunker down and take financial stock of your business. You will probably have to make some difficult decisions over the next few weeks or have already done so. Decide who you will have to lay off and what you can do fiscally to take care of them. The World Floor Covering Association has information from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act through their lobbyists, https://wfca. https://wfca.org/page/coronavirus-aid-relief-and-economic-security-act-what-provided-it-flooring-retailer-and as well as the Covid19 Updates, https://wfca.org/ covid19-updates. The New York Times has a F.A.Q. that answers many of the ques-
tions about the federal monies, https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-stimulus-package-questions-answers.html
2. Help your employees and yourself with feelings of uncertainty or despair. Talkspace.com is a group of online counselors volunteering time to talk people through these difficult times. Don’t underestimate the difficulties that people are having; limited resources and loss of employment rank as two of the top stressors. https://www.talkspace.com/blog/coronavirus-talkspace-resources/
For sales and customer service training, connect with Lisbeth’s courses, Success on Fire, https://successonfire.lisbethcalandrino.com/ or sign up for her blog, https://www.lisbethcalandrino.com/blog. 10 Premier Flooring Retailer | Q1 2020
