The COVID-19 global pandemic has been felt in every country around the world. With rising infection rates, hospitalisation and deaths, extreme measures have been implemented to try and contain the virus and halt the spread.

With the discovery of effective vaccines , there finally appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Although there is some way to go before we can say with any confidence that the virus has been beaten, the number of cases is steadily dropping and all the signs are positive.

This means that businesses who have been forced to take the financial hit can now finally consider the future. Whether your business had to close down completely or just scale back operations, it’s time to start planning how to build back up. What you do next will depend on the nature of your business and precisely how it was impacted. However, there are some steps which will apply to everyone, and could help you to make a successful return more rapidly.

Take Your Business Outside

In the past, it might have been unheard of for business meetings to be held outside but in the post-COVID era, it’s a change that’s worth considering. Studies have shown that the virus can’t spread as easily outside, plus you won’t be confined to the dimensions of a specific room.

Making a successful return to business involves instilling confidence in employees, clients and business partners. This means you might want to consider making adjustments to how you’ve done things in the past.
It can be difficult to radically overhaul your workspace, especially if you’ve never moved business meetings outside. The Bunnings Warehouse Specials are a great place to look for some inspiration, and it could save you money too on transforming the areas you have available. For example, the outdoor screen could be ideal for sectioning off various areas, providing semi-private spaces without restricting airflow. Outside is also an clearly demonstrate how you’re protecting them, and how you’ve created a COVID-safe workplace.

This could include creating on

excellent option for breakout and relaxation zones, with comfy chairs like the One-Seater Malibu for $249. Remember though, sofas aren’t ideal because of the proximity to others. For the foreseeable future, it’s better to stick to chairs that can easily be separated and spread apart.

Give Your Employees Confidence

Returning to the workplace may feel very intimidating for some employees, and this could affect their mental health, and work performance. As their employer your role is to

e-way traffic flow around the office, spacing desks out and providing everyone with sufficient PPE.

You could also go one step further and consider shared resources which could represent a point of infection. For example, the touchpad on the work coffee machine is likely to be a risk; you could replace this with a no-touch machine which enables workers to order their drinks without having to make physical contact.

All of these steps will help workers to regain their confidence about staying safe in a shared office space.

Reconsider Your Business Plan

No matter how meticulously you had everything planned out before, the pandemic will have irrevocably changed your business plan. Rather than trying to stick to a model that no longer works, be brave enough to rip it up and start again.

Your business may have managed to keep going better than most, especially if employees were able to successfully work from home. However, the market will have changed and your products and services will need to respond in order to stay relevant and in demand.

The first thing you’ll need to do is ensure you have uptodate profit and loss data. From here you can work out the health of your finances, and how much money is in the budget for the business to move forward.

Don’t Rule Out Finance and Spending

Although you’ll inevitably consider finance and spending as part of your business plan review, it’s such a critical point, it warrants special attention.

If you have been hit hard by the pandemic, preservation may be on your mind. This means you may be focused on stripping back and minimising spending in order to try and survive. Ironically, you may be putting the future of the business in jeopardy if you don’t recognise when spending is essential. Even if you’re being squeezed financially, if you don’t do the necessary and reimagine your business to meet the changing demands, you’re effectively signing its death warrant.

It may feel counterintuitive, but sometimes when the business is in a difficult place, the best thing to do is consider more finance and spending. Of course, it won’t always be the right thing to do but if you need to invest to bring clients and customers back on board, it’s short-term pain for long-term gain - and survival.

Create a Contingency

The idea that this might happen again may feel unbearable, but it’s better to plan ahead and be ready for the worst. Now that you’ve experienced it once, you’re ideally placed to consider what you might want to do differently next time. Get procedures and plans in place so that if the business ever has to face another crisis of a similar nature, you’ll be ready to hit the ground running.