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5 Things We’re Doing as a Small Business during Coronavirus
As a small business owner and employer, I, like you am trying to do the best I can to create some certainty and some normality in these uncertain and difficult times.
Here is what I have done and what I am doing:
Financials
I have reviewed my company finances and forecasted many scenarios.
I have put a freeze on all pay increases and recruitment.
I have reduced all non-essential overheads.
Team
I have been sending a weekly email to our team giving them an update and reassuring them that their jobs are secure. However, I did let them know that I will be running a tight ship as we do not know how long this is going to last.
I have also requested that job roles and responsibilities should not be held so tightly and that more flexibility is needed with everyone mucking in where the work is needed. They, of course, said yes.
At present, we are all working from home and communicating daily using Zoom, Slack and WhatsApp.
Support our Clients
We are in daily communication with our clients and now nothing is out of scope. We are here to help, and no task is too big or too small.
We are still promoting our services which I have really agonised over. I don’t want to appear insensitive or opportunistic. However, we are a project management company working with Training Hubs, Primary Care Networks and GP Federations, and right now, we can provide the support they so greatly need.
We are staying true to our mission of saving our clients, time, stress and money and our values:
Teamwork
Open and honest communication
Delivering meaningful results
Investment in our personal and professional development
We will continue to show up, share as much as we can and provide virtual project management just like we have done for the past 5 years.
Mindset
Every day I exercise, I meditate and write down the things I am grateful for. Right now, I have my marriage, the kids, existing clients and the fact the business is still attracting new clients, my health, my family, friends, a roof over my head, toilet paper!!!! Food, Netflix. OK, I’ll stop now.
When I have those inevitable wobbles, I call friends, talk with my husband Mark, exercise, watch TV, listen to music and look at all the things I am grateful for.
Switching off
I’m fortunate that work is busy, but on the flip side, it’s hard to switch off. My workdays seem longer now I am working from home, so; I have been learning to draw, learning to play the keyboard, learning Tik Tok dances with the kids, watching the Netflix series Greenleaf and listening to audio books. I have just finished listening to The Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz and now I'm listening to Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman.
What difficult decisions have you had to make around financials and potentially your team?
What tools are you using to communicate?
A Quick Guide to Continuity Planning
Books to Help you Stay Positive in Any Situation
PCN IT Remote Working Checklist
Tara Humphrey is the founder of THC Primary Care, a leading healthcare consultancy specialising in workforce transformation and the host of the Business of Healthcare Podcast.
Tara and her team also work with GP federations supporting the implementation of clinical services.
Tara has over 20 years of project management and business development experience across the private and public sector and has an MBA in Leadership and Management in Healthcare, is published in the London Journal of Primary Care and is the author of over 150 blogs.
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