What lessons can businesses learn from COVID-19?

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COVID-19 has shaken the world to its core, and it has caused many a business to collapse. For those that have survived, there are still challenges to tackle. Invariably, these are based around health and safety, and financial security, but there will be some that are specific to certain business types.
Times have been tough – that’s an understatement, we know – but now is not the time to become complacent. As we leave lockdown, now is the time to learn from the experiences COVID-19 has taught us.
These are some of the lessons businesses have been forced to learn.
It’s important to prepare financially
In both our personal and our business lives, we are sometimes tempted to spend rather than save. We sometimes have that mentality of ‘it won’t happen to us,’ so we forget about adding to our emergency fund. As we have learned in recent times, however, the unexpected can happen, and for those who haven’t been prepared financially, hard times have fallen.
So, as we enter this next season, be sure to add to your emergency fund. Some are predicting a second wave of the virus, so money in the bank will serve your business well should this occur. But despite the threat of the virus, there could be other disasters that befall your business, so learn from what has happened this year. Don’t wait until the worse happens before you start to save, because you never know what is around the corner.
Cleanliness is important
There is always that one person in the office who complains about the state of the refrigerator, or the mess that pervades the breakroom. In the past, it may have been easy for business owners to disregard their complaints, but as hygiene is now more important than ever, now is the time to listen to those employees who care about cleanliness.
Businesses have been forced to put into place sanitation areas, and they have been instructed to follow other guidelines for the protection of their staff. You should be taking the recommended steps for your business. But these aren’t short term measures. For the ongoing protection of your employees, you should keep a clean and tidy workspace. Complement this with other measures to ensure health and safety, such as regular risk assessments and the usage of EHS software. Sick days will be reduced if you do, and employee morale will be higher.
Remote working is possible
Some business owners have resisted the possibility of remote working, but in recent months, they have been forced into this change of working style. They have learned that remote working is possible, and chances are, you may have learned the same.
As lockdown restrictions ease, you might want to consider the long-term viability of remote working for your business. Not only will you pre-empt a second wave of the virus or another destabilising disaster, but you will improve your employee’s work-life balance too. Your business will also save money, as some expenses will be reduced if your employees can work from home. You may have learned these things already, of course, but regardless, heed the advantages that remote working can give your business.
These are just a few of the lessons that can be learned from COVID-19, and it might be that you can add to this list. Despite the ravages of the pandemic, it is good that we can step back and consider lessons such as these. By doing so, we should be able to plan and strengthen our businesses as we go into the future.