Tips on how digital technology can help your business deal with COVID-19
Introduction
Some businesses are struggling to cope with the challenges arising from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Here are a few ideas to help you make the most of digital technology in your business during these times.
Working at home
Many people are now working from home. If this is not something you’re used to, do you or your employees have access to the right hardware, including laptops and smart phones? If not, can you purchase some? If you do, what about the right software , with applications like Google or Microsoft 365?
If working at home, do you or your staff have enough broadband connectivity, especially when children will no longer be allowed to attend school and have to remain at home, hogging the broadband? It may be worth upgrading your package to accommodate for this increased usage.
Cybersecurity is also something to be mindful of — keeping your information secure whilst working at home. The National Cyber Security Centre has a useful guide for protecting small businesses.
Keep sharing and stimulating ideas
People are by nature social and may find social-distancing tricky. Keep talking to family, friends and colleagues by whatever means you can as this is important for mental wellbeing. It’s also good for business as engaging in conversations can lead to ideas, innovation and solutions that could benefit your business in the long run. Utilise technology and apps like WhatsApp to stay in touch or set up video meetings with your team via Zoom. Both are free to use.
Tools such as Slack or Trello can also be used to communicate, coordinate and collaborate on projects, so they can still move forward. Make sure everyone in your business is clear on how to get in touch with each other and you agree a few protocols, such as all attendees should wear appropriate clothing for video meetings.
Getting your products and services out there
Could you adapt your business so that it could work online? If you deliver personal training or fitness classes, can you record these and share over social media? If you have a retail shop that has to close, are you able to sell your product digitally? The FSB are a great source of info relating to this and many other topics for small businesses.
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Events
29th November 2022FREE
York & Harrogate Business Support Programme : Tourism Business Booster Marketing Planning 2023
With multiple dates in York and Harrogate, these fully funded workshops will help businesses involved in the tourism sector to plan for 2023, with Martin Evans of The Tourism Business. Benefit from dedicated group coaching with this fully funded tourism business booster for hospitality businesses in York & Harrogate.
29th November 20222:00 pm - 4:00 pmFREE
29 November - Ian Walker - Importance of Good Numbers
In this session, Ian Walker of Ian Walker & Co. Chartered Accountants will consider why having a tight grasp on your numbers and trading performance is important. Not only historic results but also on projection and budgets. He will detail how to compile such figures and how to interpret them, and also touch upon how good financials (numbers) leads to better decision making.
30th November 2022FREE
York Business Festival : November 2022
The Growth Hub is proud to be amongst the organisers of this year's expanded York Business Festival, with a week of events as part of a wider programme of activity throughout November. Read on to learn what will be available through the Growth Hub and other organisations.
Resources
2022 Seminar Recordings
We have recently hosted a programme of in-person seminars and other events, some of which were professionally recorded and can now be viewed on our website.
Seminar Recording : Access to finance: Funding growth
This workshop will provide guidance on cost based pricing, calculating your costs before deciding an appropriate margin, as well as covering market based pricing asking questions such as: What value do you add? What are you worth? How do you position yourself?
Seminar Recording : Access to finance: Funding growth
Getting into the right habits early on in your business journey will make life easier as the business grows and you find yourself under more time pressure. This workshop with business coach Gareth Allen will pose some useful questions to ask yourself, and give you some ideas to get the basics right.
