How the top ten Covid-19 affected industries are keeping their doors open

Are you wondering how you can keep your doors open in this uncertain time?

You might be surprised to know that there are a large number of businesses learning how succeed by pivoting on a dime. From Distilleries becoming Sanitiser Manufacturers, to Cafés becoming Grocery Stores, out of the box thinking is helping these business owners sleep at night.

We decided to bring together success stories from some of the most affected industries to inspire you to do the same in your business and to entice you to reach out and connect with them. 

1. Hospitality

The Hospitality Industry has undoubtedly been one of the most affected industries around. Businesses that didn’t have a strong network of customers or an online shop found themselves in a tough position.

So, what were the options? eCommerce sites can be expensive and take a while to build. Pre-built platforms like Shopify, Wix or BigComm can help them get online faster, but the fees for using their service plus the fee for delivery will eat into their profit margin.

A fast and super simple solution is to convert their menu into an ordering system on their website. If they didn’t have a website yet, they’ve worked with a web agency to build a super streamlined version with their logo and contact details.

The ordering system is a simple form where people can select the item they wish to order, the quantity and an option to add notes if they want something specific. Once they’ve submitted an order, it shows up in the shop. All the shop needs to do is make the order for pickup or delivery (see below for clever ways to get your orders delivered).

Overall, this is a quick, cost effective way to keep your business running and keep their customers returning for more.

2. Private Transport

The private transport industry has also taken quite a hit. People have been forced to cancel live events and paid-travel is almost non-existent. The result? You’re left with a team of qualified drivers and cars ready to roll with nowhere to go.

And therein lies the opportunity. With a growth in delivery requirements and people with reduced mobility, reaching out to restaurants, cafes, retirement homes or other establishments that manage transport for clients with reduced mobility may provide some avenues to start a mutually beneficial relationship.

We’ve been witnessing businesses who are screaming for the ability to get their orders delivered to their customers - without the expensive overheads of “traditional” delivery services. So go ahead - reach out to your network and uncover who you could drive for.

3. Retail

For a lot of businesses a drop in foot traffic equals a significant drop in sales. Well, until recently.

Now more than ever, people are jumping online to search for products and services online - so setting up an online store is the perfect way to get in front of their target customers.

If they have an existing customer base, then now is the perfect time to reach out to them via social media or email to let them know that you’re open for business - and they can still purchase their favourite items online. Remind them that they already know your products, your quality and their sizing - so shopping with you will be their best bet.

Share more tips and images of stock on social media, push some ads behind it and engage customers online.

When they reach out to their favourite customers - they consider the following in their strategy:

• What is it that customers are looking for at this time?
• Do they have a different level of income now?
• Are they not going out any more? Remind them to enjoy their personal style and take the time to reorganise their closet for the winter events to come.

One tip which is working well is reaching out to friends and family and asking them to test their shopping experience. They will help uncover new ways to market to existing customers.

4. Events & Catering

These days, the online world is dominated by Zoom - but there are alternatives. Cleeng offers an online live stream service which can be pay-per-view, much like buying a ticket to an event.

When you’re happy with the right platform for your online event:

1. Add a page (a landing page) to your website that converts visitors into booked attendees. 
2. Let visitors know:
• When your event is,
• The agenda for the event, 
• What they need to bring with them, 
• The goal of the event,
• ‘What’s in it for them’ (why they should attend),  
• The reputation of the speaker to reinforce it all 
• Calls to Action to convert attendees into sales.
3. Promote and drive traffic to your Landing Page. Remember your network is more valuable now than it has ever been to your client, email marketing and a mix of Social Media/Google advertising should do the job. Many platforms have offered incentives to help businesses to get online during this time.

Right now this business model is going bananas, so jump in now and get your first online event up and running.

5. Education & Training

Education was hard enough to do in a classroom, let alone trying to hold a student’s attention on a video call. Streamlining class activities and breaking each segment into bite sized learning help keep the classes moving forward.

Successful training and education organisations are using Zoom’s paid service to deliver classes with up to 100 students. Zoom’s break out room feature is also particularly handy - giving them the option to jump out of the main teaching environment to help individual students.

To help with student’s learning, automated quizzes with Google Forms are being created to confirm learning and allow facilitators to easily review each student’s answers.

Zoom ranges from $8.49 to $29.48 per month for class lengths of more than 45 minutes.

6. Photography

For most photographers, the current environment is quite restrictive, especially if they work with groups of people.

Here is where the opportunity lies. Smart photographers are creating online training programs that share their passion with those who are curious. It builds their credibility and provides them with a database of potential clients to market to once the air clears and life returns to normal.

If you do choose to work with clients - remember safety and social distancing are key. A nice outdoor location close to each team member's residence can provide the perfect environment for corporate headshots – one at a time of course.

As many businesses go online and we are restricted to minimal interaction, customers will find it hard to build rapport with your business. Adding a human component such as a team page can help bridge that connection.

7. Videography

Much like photographers, an online training course can be a great way to keep your business ticking over and have a list of clients to reach out to when life returns to normal.

Now might also be the perfect time for one on one footage to be created. This might include:

• Messages from upper management, which could be morale boosting for employees
• Video editing for content to be placed on a business; website.

Businesses that are wanting to invest in their future are a perfect fit for the above items.

8. Tourism

Right now there’s a large percentage of the population who are stuck indoors and feeling trapped. What better way for people to feel like they are escaping their homes than a virtual tour. Tour businesses are achieving this by running either an online virtual tour platform with 360 cameras or pre-recorded videos.

Additionally, these types of businesses know that tourism is going to explode once the lock-downs have been eased. As a result, they are offering incentives for customers to register interest in specific locations or types of holidays. By doing so, they are building an extremely focused database, which they will market to as soon as they can.

9. Health & Well-being

Chiropracting, physiotherapy, osteopathy, massage and personal training are all very hands-on businesses. So how are they still able to provide guidance to their customers to help them stay fit and healthy during this time?

Many are putting together their digital offering in the form of:

• Online pre-recorded training / education programs
• One on one session times - booked and paid for using Zoom or Cleeng (Pay-per-view service mentioned above).
• Home care kits for sale or as a gift 

Many of these offerings are attracting new clients into a world where they’ve never had the courage to go before and they are also keeping their current client base happy by still providing a service.

With all this inline, a sound marketing strategy and website to support customer requests keep them servicing current and new customers during this time of market change.

10. Hair & Beauty

Much like Health & Well-being above, the guidance of Hair and Beauty businesses are invaluable to a large portion of the population. 

People are looking for ways to depart from the monotony of staying at home - so a lot of these types of businesses are finding creative ways to reach out to their audience:

• One-on-one online or group parties where people are getting dressed up
• Online education programs

All this personal guidance is helping people feel excited about managing their personal care.

In Summary

This is a time where a large majority of people have had to dramatically change their lifestyles. Businesses have had to think quickly about keeping their doors open and make hard decisions about whether this is sustainable during the lock-down. Remember, not every business will have opportunity or the resources to pivot during this time and there are plenty of government and industry incentives to help people through these times.

For businesses who are able to keep open:

• Keep in contact with your client base either by phone, social media or email,
• Make sure your website is working for your business. Always ask yourself - are you able to squeeze more from it?
• Look at ways to either run one-on-one or group sessions via a platform like Zoom.
• Look into transforming the knowledge in your head into a paid online course.
• Plan for the future - businesses that invest time, money or resources now will be far ahead of the game when the lock-down is lifted.

The lockdown is temporary. Turn your focus to what you can get on the go to gear your business to grow so when the market turns - you are ready.

Are you looking for ways to keep your business open during the lock-down? We've helped countless businesses think outside the box and discover that they're sitting on a gold mine...