Weathering the storm for business success

It is just 4 weeks since my last article for the Business Barn, but it might as well have been a year! The world feel like a totally different place, and my perspective on life seems to shift every day – sometimes even every hour. I work with many different small rural and equestrian businesses, so I know that at the moment lots of you are probably feeling scared, worried and unsettled. Whether you run a brand-new venture or an established business, this is a very challenging time.

My approach to the events has been the same as it is for any challenge I come across, although I will admit I’ve had a few days where I needed some time to mull things over and get clarity. That means I’ve been working hard to seek out the positives and help my network make the best of a rotten situation. I know this might not feel like it at the moment, but you never know the opportunities that are around the corner.

As someone who has worked from my home for many years and who coaches mindset and NLP techniques every single week, I hope I’m well placed to help. Here are some top tips to help you focus, see the positives and maybe even make the most of this situation.

1. Set a working day routine and stick to it

The ‘gift’ of time is only a gift if you use it well! If not, it can actually really stress you out with days and weeks stretching ahead into the distance. Make sure you still get up at a good time and get out of those PJs! And that time you’re saving on a commute or school run? Why not make a clear list of what you want to achieve in your day! Set an alarm for every hour and a half and make sure you get up and move a bit. Take a lunch break and go for a walk (that could be a good time to head out for your allotted exercise time!). Make sure you take occasional breaks throughout the afternoon as well and set a realistic time to stop. It can be tempting to just carry on into the evening when you’re working at home, but it’s important to switch off. Perhaps do some stretching or home exercise in the evening to make a clean break between the working day and relaxation?

2. Work on your mindset

Mindset is incredibly important – I always tell my clients that their success is down to 80% mindset and 20% skills! It doesn’t matter if you’re the very best at what you do if you don’t have the confidence, perseverance and motivation to get on with it. Set clear goals for what you want to achieve over the next month, 6 months and year. I make sure I take the time every day to run through a morning routine that puts me in the right mindset for the day ahead. That means practicing a little bit of gratitude, remembering my affirmations and reviewing my vision board. That might sound hard to do when things are so tough, but I promise that you will still be able to find something to be grateful for and it will help you be positive.

3. Focus on your marketing

Marketing is so often the job that gets kicked to the wayside when things are busy. But if you have extra time on your hands at the moment then it’s the perfect opportunity to make a marketing plan and work on it. It might seem strange if your business is temporarily closed (wedding venues, glamping sites etc) but I promise you, it is more important than ever to be showing up online. Plus, it doesn’t have to cost a penny. Remember that lots of people are stuck at home with heaps of time and they are spending a lot of time online. They might be using time to plan a big party for when we return to normal or dreaming about the first staycation they will book. Just because they can’t book now doesn’t mean you can’t show them what you do! Be visible, be authentic and be helpful so that you are offering followers value.

4. Teach yourself how to use these free tools

I know that money is incredibly tight for many businesses at the moment, so you won’t want to be spending money. That’s why I’ve gathered some of my favourite free marketing and planning tools for you here. I would wholeheartedly advise small business owners spend some time during the lockdown teaching themselves how to use them, as they will help you immensely once we are able to sell again.

Canva is brilliant for designing visual content for your marketing efforts. It has a free library of images, fonts and templates, so you can have a go at designing posters, flyers, social media banners and more! Sign up and have a play.

Hootsuite (or other tools such as Buffer) enables you to plan, write and schedule your social media messages in advance. All you need to do is link your business’s social media feeds to it and then get going. If you can get into the habit of scheduling your social media in advance now, it will be easier to carry on when life gets busy again.

Mailchimp is a free email marketing tool. Just because you can’t necessarily sell at the moment, you can still find ways to gather email addresses from prospects (perhaps run a competition or expression of interest campaign!) and then load them into Mailchimp. Then plan a monthly newsletter keeping them up to date with your latest news – another great way to stay in touch!

Trello is just one of a range of planning/task management tools that you might want to explore. Even the most organised people I know can find that some tasks fall between the cracks when they are busy, so need something to remind them. Trello allows you to split different areas of your business into virtual ‘noticeboards’ and then add ‘cards’ with tasks on them. You can add due dates, attach files, notes and images and assign jobs to other people, if you have a team.

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