Easing your business out of lockdown: five tips to get started

It would be an understatement to say that the last 12 months have been tough. While not all businesses and industries have been affected in the same way, for many it has been a period of struggle, belt tightening and – for some – much worse.

But now as restrictions begin to ease (hopefully for the last time) there is at least a glimmer of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

If you’ve had to close your doors, or otherwise limit your business in some way, we’re sure that each landmark on the road out of lockdown can’t come soon enough.

And whatever industry you work in, the best place to look for advice is the official government guidance available here.

But apart from those important dos and don’ts, here are a few more hints to help make the transition out of lockdown easier.

1) Safety and social distancing

Being able to reopen your business doesn’t mean an end to all restrictions, and it’s important to remember this as staff and customers return.

Until June 21 at the earliest, social distancing will continue to be important. So make sure you’re staying on the right side of the regulations – and doing the right thing by your staff and customers – by making your office, shop or showroom as compliant as possible. That means signs reminding people of the importance of social distancing, arrows indicating single lane traffic where applicable and additional measures where strictly adhering to social distancing rules isn’t possible.

Also make sure to have plenty of hand sanitiser or cleaning facilities available too – for your customers and your own people.

And don’t forget that if your property’s been unused for a while, it’s probably a good idea to make sure that it’s safe to return. That means as well as obvious hazards, checking things like light switches and sockets (and even your water supply if your taps haven’t been turned on for 12 months).

2) Home working

Depending on the nature of your business you might have had staff working from home throughout the pandemic, and you might want to keep on doing that – at least to an extent.

But if you do, make sure they’ve got the equipment (and connectivity) they need to do their job well. ‘Making do’ for a few weeks or even months is one thing, but if remote or hybrid working becomes permanent, you’ll need to ensure that your people have everything they need to do it properly.

If you’re reintroducing staff into your office/premises, be aware that this might be a daunting experience for them, especially if they’ve not been into work for 12 months or longer. Just remember that they may need additional support from you during this time as they readjust.

3) Your customers

If you’re reopening after a long spell, there’s a chance that not all of your customers will be aware. They may have even forgotten during the last year just how much they need you!

So remember to remind them that you’re back.

That might involve an email list or just a quick text or phone call, depending on how many customers you have. You might even consider an ‘end of lockdown' special offer to get that regular traffic back through your doors.

Whatever you do, it’s important to remember that there might not be an immediate return to business as usual, and you may even have to put in a little extra effort to get that regular custom back. Hopefully, your customers will be desperately waiting for you to reopen but being aware that this might not be the case can help.

4) Don’t be hasty

You might be tempted to simply go back to the way things were pre-Covid but depending on how your business has fared during the restrictions this might mean missing an opportunity to do things differently and better.

That’s because you may have actually found that some things have improved over the last year. Whether that’s introducing more flexible working or new ways of business (selling online for example), you might want to keep some of those new ideas.

So before you rush back into things, take stock of how things have gone over the last 12 months. However you arrived at it, is there anything you’re doing now that is actually working out for you? If so, why not consider how you can adopt it into your longer-term business practices.

5) Unfreezing your broadband connection

If you’ve taken advantage of freezing your contract, remember that you’ll need to get this back up and running as work resumes.

When you’re ready to get your broadband reconnected, don’t wait until the last minute. We’ll need a couple of weeks’ notice ideally, so make sure you don’t delay in contacting us. Just get in touch and we’ll take care of everything for you.

And finally, if you do need any support with your voice, connectivity or cloud services as your business eases into life after lockdown, please don’t hesitate to let us know.