Lockdown 2.0 started in England yesterday. This means that for the next four weeks some of us will be back to spending more time with our families as we are advised to work from home if we can.
The first time around I wanted to be really productive through the lockdown. I decided to maximise the extra time available (because it was unlikely to happen again) and come out the other side a better version of me than when I went in. I gave myself a work schedule to keep me focused. I bought a practice net to hit golf balls in the garden, had a practice regime lined up, and did a daily workout. So, when we did come out in the summer, I felt I’d succeeded – I’m a scratch golfer (for the first time), my weight is the lowest it’s been for years, and I’m a Director of MediaVantage!
This time around everything feels different. I still want to be productive, but for a start it’s winter and as much as I’d love it, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll experience the hot sunshine we had in March and April! It’s also different because we’ve been through this all before. For those of us that can, we’ve adapted to working from home, so it’s now become the norm. Businesses, for the most part, first time around, felt ‘This’ll be difficult, but we’ll get through it and we’ll bounce back’. But it’s been eight months now and for most, the ‘bounce back’ hasn’t materialised (yet), more and more people are losing their jobs, and businesses are going. Then, suddenly, we’re in another national lockdown!
There’s an old adage “every adversity carries with it the seed of equivalent or greater benefit” but it can sometimes be difficult to find the seeds. As a business owner, at the moment, we’re more often than not trapped in the cycle of working in the business rather than on it. With little time to reflect and consider the seeds of opportunity, these can be missed. Businesses will have to find new and innovative ways to attract, retain, and develop customers despite Covid-19 and they will. They’ll evolve, do more business online, offer a delivery/collection service, identify a new product or service, or simply find more demand exists for what they produce already like masks, hand sanitisers, and toilet rolls. So, as we enter Lockdown 2.0, if you’re struggling to find the seeds, need help to maximise the opportunities, have an idea you want to market or are simply working at the coalface every day and feel unable to consider how you will attract, retain, and develop customers as things move forward, maybe we can help? Who knows, a timely conversation could mean your business comes out of this even better prepared to maximise the potential than it was before we went in it!
