
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt everywhere around the world and most businesses have suffered. COVID-19 is among the severe disasters that have ever hit the world. Almost every business leader had to navigate business problems, which range from keeping customers and employees safe, shoring up liquidity and cash, navigating complex government support programs, and reorienting operations. Most businesses had to scale down their operations and even run at losses.
So, what should you do to keep your business profitable in a pandemic, such as COVID-19? Below are a few of the strategies that you can adopt to keep your business profitable and outshine your key competitors.
- Expand Your Portfolio
Expanding into one or two new markets will open up new streams of revenue and keep you ahead of your competitors. So, if your company produces one type of product, such as auto parts or foodstuff, you should consider expanding your portfolio to include products that are in high demand during the pandemic, such as COVID-19. For instance, COVID-19 increased the demand for some products like tissue papers, masks, and hand sanitizers. Therefore, even if your company does not produce such products, venturing into them and raking in the high profits was a good idea.
To explain how you can benefit from portfolio expansion, let us take the United States as our example. After the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) loosened up the rules for hand sanitizer production so that many investors could join the industry and increase the supply. That was a good opportunity for manufacturers in other industries to expand their portfolios.
If buying the new equipment needed to launch the production of those products on high demand, leasing them might be a good idea. Some companies will also choose to subcontract the production through other companies.
- Motivate Your Staff: Iskander Makhmudov
Another big strategy for growing your business, including in pandemics, is keeping your staff motivated. According to the mainowner of copper producer UGMK, Iskander Makhmudov, your employees should be the gateway to outperforming your key competitors through innovation. All you need to keep them motivated is to address their concerns. By addressing their concerns and appreciating their efforts, you will demonstrate to them that you are ready to support them in the hardest of times.
For instance, you can help your employees by ensuring that none of their family members gets a shock from the pandemic. Besides, you could extend the medical cover for employees to cater to all members of their families. Make sure that all employees get the COVID-19 vaccine to minimize the infection risk and to be sure that they will continue working for your company in the future.
- Rethink the Supply Chain
COVID-19 affected many areas, one of them being the supply chain. Manufacturing companies that imported their raw materials from other countries stopped their operations after the countries went into total lockdown. So, what should you do to avoid that if another pandemic occurred in the future?
Even though the supplies you import from other countries may come at a lower price and be of higher quality compared to those available locally, turning to the local suppliers will help keep your business running. For example, if your beer company relies on barley from Australia, you can shift to the local materials to keep it running if importation from Australia is impossible.
The strategies you adopt from your company during a pandemic may break or make it. The three strategies listed above will help you stay ahead of your keep competitors during a pandemic and make profits where others are closing their business operations.