We have had too much information on how the rich became richer during the lockdowns and movement restrictions during the pandemic from 2020 to around 2022. Same time, we have had a bit of an overdose of how a large number of small and medium local businesses had to close down as they could not survive the prolonged closure of the businesses. The costs were simply too much to manage and the only option was to close down. Then there were supply chain issues followed by the news of layoffs, especially in the tech sector in 2023. The period of four years or so really saw big swings - some businesses flourished, some closed down and some fought it out and somehow survived. The stories that inspire us are of local businesses that fought it out to see through the tumultuous time.
Things have now become better and the local business owners who held on to see off the worst have come out as real champs. Things are better than before and local business growth is back to normal. Both shop and office-based, are revamping and reequipping themselves to expand.
The local businesses in the US were the ones who bore the brunt. Same time, they are the ones that have taught the world how to innovate to meet the changing business landscape in times of existential crisis, build a long-term strategy for the business to remain afloat, and go one step ahead to have more customers than ever before.
If you wish to start a local business or are an existing local business owner aiming for growth, it’s time to take charge of things. Here are the best tips from local small business owners based on what they did to remain alive in the business sphere and how you should plan your next move to give your local businesses a better standing in the market - no matter what the market conditions are.
Adapting to regulations and depicting responsible local business behavior
First, there are the office and shop-based local businesses. It includes professionals like lawyers, dentists, accountants, tax and insurance advisors. And then there are bars and restaurants, bookstores, clothing stores, laundromats, car repair shops, salons, building material suppliers, furniture showrooms, etc.
For many local business owners, it was important to adapt to the prevailing regulations and have responsible policies for the safety of their employees, their families, and their customers. That meant masking, limiting the number of customers in the office or the shop, removing some furniture to ensure social distancing, sanitizing and cleaning the surface at regular intervals, and providing hand sanitizer at the entry points. It sent a positive message to both the customers and the employees that ‘they cared’ for them and they had a responsible business.
The sense of responsibility passes from you to your local business customers and it creates a healthy environment where everyone comes together to ensure the safety of each other. A certain level of safety makes customers confident and it helps local business owners run the show even when things are slow.
The same applies to home-visit-based local businesses that include pest control, plumbing, and electrical services, AC repair and installation, home renovation, landscaping and gardening, locksmiths, tree trimming, auto repair or car mechanic service on call, private security agencies, etc.
If your local business staff visits a home or office building masked and vaccinated and sanitizes the surfaces before leaving, it presents you as a responsible service provider and markets you in the best light. The pandemic may be over but you should not let the guard down in terms of ensuring everyone’s safety. People are now more aware than ever so expect your customers to rate your business on how much you care for them and also for your staff.
Staffing innovatively
Companies like Amazon are facing the heat due to a lack of staff. Rounds of layoffs happened in Amazon but that was for white-collar employees. For its supply chain and warehousing, the shortage still persists. Some companies offered up to a $1000 joining bonus. There were several reasons behind the workforce shortage and one of them was that workers did not want to take the risk of working in the pandemic conditions and wished to wait and watch before joining someplace.
Or it could be that they preferred working on freelancing jobs online and taking up gigs on and off to keep themselves going. The lesson here is that to make them confident to join you, it’s important you provide them a sense of job security and guarantee a certain payout even if things close down again.
Mostly, all it takes is just a little nudge to wake up someone. A little gesture from you will go a long way because people are keen to get out and work and not just sit on computers waiting for some freelancing gig to be awarded to them. Think differently because the situation is not the same, and you will surely not face a staff crunch in your local business, whether it’s New York City or Los Angeles.
The situation around the US was the same and all the business owners or the ones who planned to start a new local business were sailing in the same boat. Throughout 2022 and 2023, hiring practices changed, remote work options were provided, pays were improved, working conditions were made better, and that helped companies attract the best talent. You cannot afford to be rigid in modern recruitment. Be flexible, use technology, and make them feel like they are part of your business.
Dear local business owners, ditch cash payments, and go touchless (menus for restaurants)
The pandemic was the right time for the local business owners to ditch the cash payments and go touchless. Cashless payment systems were the in-thing then and now they look so outdated if you have not yet switched to it. Optimize unattended operations, promote self-service in your restaurant business, and promote a QR-code-based payment system along with a greater focus on digital menus inside.
There’s no better safety than simply ditching almost everything that involves human contact. It will showcase you as a tech-oriented business and will definitely appeal to the customers.
Everyone is under stress. Respect the fact and treat the customers nicely in your local business
There’s not a person who did not stress related to the movement restrictions. A few people who were more on the ‘not following the rules’ did not represent the entire public. People were aware, they were conscious and everyone wanted a better future. The best local business owners respected their customers and allowed them to decide what the best practice to follow was in the current environment.
Some local business owners did not make masks mandatory and allowed the customers to decide what was best for them. It did not mean that they allowed them to break the rules and put everyone in danger. It simply meant that instead of stopping a customer at the door and saying, ‘you are not allowed inside because you are not wearing a mask,’ they informed them of the protocols in a more professional manner. There were bound to be odd situations but it was the need of the hour.
Masking is not our natural habit and sometimes people just forget to put it on or use the sanitizer before entering a premises. Businesses used posters on their property, especially on the entry door of the local business office and restaurant. These practices should be followed on. We are not talking about masking per se but the ways to handle a customer politely in every situation and make them more aware with signboards, etc.
At times, whenever a customer entered or tried to enter the office or shop without a mask or without sanitizing the hands, there were cool ways of sending across the message and a direct verbal message was used when the front door messages failed.
To achieve this, you could also use a brightly lit LED display at the entrance is also a good idea, or you could get t-shirts for your staff with a message on them. The staff should be trained to handle every kind of customer - nice or rough and show their best behaviors to them.
Focus on delivery and takeaways for your local businesses and restaurants
Online businesses saw their sales zooming during the lockdowns. People wanted to minimize the risk by not going out and this meant a boon for online businesses and delivery apps. If you haven’t gone online yet, you are making the biggest technical mistake of modern times.
Just look at the success of delivery apps and online stores and learn from it. You do not necessarily need to build an app or form an online store to accept online orders. Local businesses, especially restaurants, have the advantage of serving a local crowd, which they can access through social media pages and providing their phone numbers therein.
Let your phone do the job for your local business. Get a fancy number or if you want to save money, keep a separate smartphone for business purposes. Promote the phone number to the extent that it rings continuously and gets you orders. Hire delivery boys and girls or register with food delivery apps if you are a restaurant and let your products reach the doorsteps of your customers.
Advancement in cashless payment systems means local business owners don’t have to worry about the money part and rather focus on customer service. If you plan to start a small business, the best option is to utilize social media for some time before jumping on to a custom website.
Research the market. No need to hire a consultancy firm - Do it like real clever local business owners
When things were bright and beautiful, you never had the time to sit back and think of business growth, diversification, innovation, etc. These might have sounded like things meant for big businesses or something MBAs learn in business schools. But here is the real good part. You are now relatively free and can utilize that time to know how customer preferences have changed during the pandemic.
Choices evolve fast. Maybe someone started watching food shows on TV instead of those crime web shows and is often tempted to order Mexican food instead of regular cola and wafers. Or maybe completely switched from Thai food to Lebanese food. Maybe people have stopped washing clothes and going to the laundromat more.
Owing to work from home or remote work options, people are spending more time at home and getting new AC installed, planning to renovate the home, and changing the landscaping totally. Maybe the school bus accidents do not happen anymore because schools closed down, so instead of hiring a school bus accident lawyer, people are searching more for warehouse personal injury lawyers.
New situations give birth to new demands from customers and if as local business owners you fail to analyze that, it won’t be sustainable for you as a small local business. Research the market carefully, analyze your neighborhood, see what new things are coming up, and how people's choices are evolving.
Try to gauge the requirement for new services, new food choices, and new buying criteria. This will help you stay on top of your local business growth strategy and help you flourish in a changing market. The idea is that when people search for a ‘local business near me’ on Google, you must be there like a business that’s ready to serve anytime. These same steps will be great to follow if you plan to start a new business in the local market.
Expand your local business
It’s fine to be called a local business but remaining the same for years is not a good idea at all. You must be open to working extra hard and focus on your local business growth strategy by exploring new areas. For example, if you are a service business serving Napa and Carmel Valley in North Bay in San Francisco, it would be a waste if you do not serve or have never tried to expand to other areas like Petaluma, Santa Rosa, etc.
And if you already serve the entire North Bay area, why not expand to the East Bay, South Bay, and Southern California? If you are in Michigan, why cover only Hillsdale, Jackson, or Ann Arbor and leave out Adrian, Lansing, Blissfield Camden, etc.?
Local shops have limitations but delivery services and other local service-specific businesses like pest control, home renovation, electrical and plumbing, etc., have no limitations. You must be ready to move your truck to the area you get a call from. If need be and you have the right money, you can even buy a local business. This will set you on the right track where there’s growth in terms of sales.
Go ONLINE
This is one of the core parts of a local business growth strategy. If the area that you serve is pretty small and it’s only the local customers that you serve in a small town, it’s good to use social media for business promotion. But if you serve 3 or 4 localities and the area is larger for you to manage through social media platforms, it’s better to focus on going live. Build a website (it does not matter even if it’s basic because you don’t have to compete with Amazon). Learn the basics of SEO and handle the entire online promotion on your own.
Times are tough and local business owners are barely managing to survive in the market, so it’s no point shelling out some hundred or thousand dollars for basic SEO for website maintenance or social media to some local digital media agency. Keep it basic. Keep an eye on online reviews on Yelp, Google, and other review websites.
Search for keywords on free tools and write some 2 or 3 blogs a month with a word count of 500-600. All in all, keep things alive on your own till the time you don’t have sufficient money to pay an online marketing agency. See the results that appear when people search for ‘local businesses near me’ for some specific service or product. It takes time but it’s the most sustainable way to keep your business alive and kicking on Google and Bing. If you are someone who plans to start a new business or launch a restaurant, it would make business sense to budget for a new website and digital marketing right at the beginning.
A bit of competitor research online
In addition to making your local business go online, keep an eye on competitor websites and social media pages on what they offer and what changes they have made. Go for similar changes (without being a copycat) and captivate your audience by showing that you are online, your business is running and you are overcoming the tough times that all local small businesses have faced.
Customers are respecting the survivors more and there’s a certain kind of subtle movement going on to support the local businesses that are still around. Make use of it and run online campaigns requesting the people to support your business. You have a virtual presence in the online world but it translates marvelously to your physical business success.
Also read - Why GPT-generated content is bad for SEO
