Will Your Business Survive the Pandemic?

5COVID-19

Lisbeth Calandrino

Flooring Specialist and Associate Publisher and Director of Social Media for Fabulous Floors

Magazine

Will Your Business Survive the Pandemic?

As 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 questions 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.

3. Be careful with your pricing. Several dealers have told me when this is over, they are going to charge top dollar for everything. They are convinced people will be desperate to buy. With unemployment reaching 30% and not buying, my hunch is that everything will be on sale! 4. Consider teaming up with a business that can help you grow, for instance, a kitchen business. Talk with other similar flooring stores in your neighborhood, is there anything you can do together or can you share installers. Build an alliance with this same group and see if you can negotiate pricing on your merchandise. 5. Stay in front of your customers; be thankful for social media. Post daily, show your concern for them and continue to connect with your community. Volunteer, find a way to help raise money, work with our medical personnel or do anything that will help your area. Next to money, volunteering is the next best thing. 6. Everyone is hurting and uncertain; that includes your customers. The best thing you can do is show your compassion, find ways to show your humility and concern. Show your appreciation for those that are risking their lives to work any way you canmaybe an extra tip or a thank you. 7. People in the service industry are likely to be the ones feeling the most hurt during this time. Anytime you can go out of your way to thank them; I’m sure it will be appreciated. If you watch the national advertisements, most are speaking directly to the customers and showing concern and empathy. I’ve heard comments about who may be struggling. Start thinking about what you can do to help. Personally, I don’t think it’s about sending discount tickets to your customers. 8. Don’t waste this precious time you have been given.

Develop a schedule as if you were going to work, get dressed, exercise and get enough sleep. 9. Get smarter. Learn about technology, take a class.

When this is over, things will be different, and you will need new skills. Remember everything changes, if it doesn’t it dies. ❚

Don’t let your business be one of the casualties.

The official magazine of the World Floor Covering Association Premier FLOORING RETAILER

A Special “Thank You” to all the manufacturers and their marketing departments who provided outstanding editorial to make this publication a success.

Publishing Staff Margo Rodgers Locust, Publisher Karen George, Managing Editor Lisbeth Calandrino, Associate Editor Stan Michelson,

Communications Director Barry Briskman,

Senior Copy Editor Toelke Associates/Ron Toelke,

Creative Director

Editorial and Advertising Offices: Fabulous Floors Magazine, LLC Phone: 678-761-5002 Email: Margo@pfrmag.net

Contributing Writers Michael Bennett, Lewis Davis, Karen George, Frederik Langston, Margo Locust, Jason Spangler, James Wisdom

Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and timeliness of information, Premier Flooring Retailer Magazine cannot be held responsible for discrepancies, typographical errors, discontinuance of product nor color reproduction.

WFCA Scott Humphrey,

Chief Executive Officer Freida Staten,

Vice President Marketing +

Communications Steve Abernathy,

Chief Financial Officer Kay Wiley,

Executive Assistant to the CEO

Contributing Columnists Lisbeth Calandrino, Tom Jennings, Jeffrey King, Stacy Eickhoff

The World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) Phone: 855-330-1183 Email: wfca@wfca.org

Premier Flooring Retailer is a joint initiative of the World Floor Covering Association and Fabulous Floors Magazine, LLC. Copyright© FABULOUS FLOORS MAGAZINE and WFCA 2020. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any way without written consent from Fabulous Floors Magazine, LLC or the WFCA.

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