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Your Total Guide To Business
When did you realise the Coronavirus could be a problem for you and your business?
From the very beginning. We saw what was happening in all the other countries earlier affected by the outbreak and it was crystal clear that the government should have taken, sooner or later, some actions to reduce people’s possibilities of becoming infected.
That could have only meant that busy places like shops would need to be closed and travel restrictions would have to be put in place. We started to plan our next moves to stay alive.
What has been your plan to continue?
We saw the situation as an opportunity to enhance our online presence.
People will spend more and more time online and will look for the products and services they are missing from their everyday life.
We are now asking these questions - can we communicate better? Are we listening to what people ask a small brand like ours to give them? Can we improve the overall customer experience?
Have you changed your business as the weeks are passing?
Yes, for the time being, we have moved all our activities online. We have also started to work from home. We were already used to working together remotely as we are not all living in the same city, so it hasn’t been traumatic for us.
The biggest issue we had to face has been to cancel our participation in all the markets, events and fairs that we should have been involved in. A consistent part of our business is tight-knit to these events. They are not only fundamental for sales but are also a huge opportunity for getting people to start knowing the brand, our story and what we stand for.
This extremely important for a brand like ours willing to introduce edible insects as a sustainable source of protein in our diet.
We have always experienced that the best way to convince people is to simply speak with them and listen to their concerns. We are now doing that online until such events return.
What have you seen which is positive in business?
Firstly, it gave us the possibility to discover all of Zoom’s new backgrounds to embellish our meetings!
Not to mention, commuting to office has never been so immediate ;).
Jokes aside, this outbreak helped us shaping our capacity to turn a terrible situation into a huge opportunity to change for better and improve in what we were still lacking.
I would also say that we are better listeners now and, in some ways, I believe the entire society will be stronger and more aware of its limits after this.
The pandemic has been pushing us out of our comfort zones. This has shaped our capacity to adapt. Since the beginning, we have been working hard to strengthen our online presence and we are now seeing promising results.
What advice would you give to others in business?
This is the right time to focus on what you are lacking.
Get involved in new initiatives without hesitation and to start collaborating with other brands to widen your current offer.
We believed that strengthening our online presence was not just necessary but also a great way to improve our overall business and capacity to empathize with our audience. We are creating a stronger bond with our online community day by day.
For example, writing about our personal experiences throughout these uncertain times and how we are coping with that.
The response from the community has been amazing and we have seen increasing views of our blog articles and social posts. So, I strongly recommend getting more in contact with your people using your own words to describe your personal story and way out.
We have found we are now part of a community of small brands, that is growing and getting stronger every day. We are working all together to put brilliant solutions in place in order to tackle the current issues with new ideas!
What can we do to help each other?
First of all, respect all the government recommendations. To stay home is important not just for you all your loved ones but, most of all, for all the other people. Then, pay all the due attention and care on staying in health.
As an entrepreneur, I found out that intensifying relationships with other brands had been extremely helpful.
Want to help but don’t know how to reach NHS workers? Are you struggling with finding new sales channels? Drop an email and someone will come out with some brilliant ideas—it is always happening to us!
Not sure how to engage with people online? Send a message to that brand that you like and see what happens. Sometimes you are in need, some other times they are. Be always there for them and the best ones will treat you in the same way!
For more information visit http://crickefood.com
Scott Media is run by a UK-based journalist with more than 20 years' experience in the media - print, radio and television.
6 Gold View, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 8ZG
Website Email 07789 270030
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