As small business owners, our success and growth often hinges on our willingness to face challenges head on, embrace change and find solutions to any situation. Even so, no one could have braced for the unprecedented pandemic of COVID-19 and how it has impacted all of us.

First and foremost, our hearts go out to every business affected by COVID-19. With that being said, we all must move forward and give our best effort toward recovering and revitalizing our businesses. While the coronavirus has turned many of our lives upside down, it can’t break our spirit and our drive as small business owners.

Here are some ways we believe you can grow your business – even during a pandemic. We’d also love to hear from you on your personal journeys through this difficult time, and what you have done to get through it and push ahead.

Cultivate Customer Relationships

You may already have a great system in place to build customer relationships and experiences, but the pandemic offers a unique opportunity to take that to the next level.

Your customers are probably hurting just like all of us, and some genuine support, care and connectivity are much needed! How are they acting and responding to the pandemic, and what can you do about it? Check in on them, ask how they are doing and see how you can help. Displaying this genuine care and compassion goes a long way in building their trust, loyalty and respect. Not only is this personalized service and support the right thing to do, but it can also bring you powerful relationships and even more business through word of mouth.

In addition, look for professional ways to connect with your customers and increase business. For example, stay active on social media and/or blogging, delivering timely and relevant messages and content that provide solutions to your customers’ immediate or future challenges. Perhaps, look for ways to expand your service offerings by providing more products or services.

Making yourself available to talk to them and work out what’s on their mind will go a long way to deepening customer relationships.

Make Wise Investments

During an economic crisis, we are all watching our money even more closely. As small business owners, we still must be willing to make some investments to grow, but it’s important we choose those wisely.

As you may have noticed from our Facebook page (or my LinkedIn and Twitter), we are focused on delivering content that helps provide solutions to our customers to help them take their businesses to the next level. This is one piece of our marketing effort. No matter what industry you’re in, marketing is important. I, myself, was reluctant to make this investment at first, but am sure glad I did.

Another area where investing is important is in automation tools to improve your workflow and get powerful solutions to your everyday needs. If you’ve kept up with our blogs and newsletters (thank you!), you know we are big believers in QuickBooks Online and its powerful integration with hundreds of apps in the cloud. It’s helped us to help you in tremendous ways, and we would love to talk to you more and find the apps that work best for your business.

Improve Cash Flow

Cash flow is an absolute must for any business to grow, especially during COVID-19. We are all human, and common cash flow mistakes can stunt growth, or worse, threaten business longevity.

At SBS Accounting & Advisors, cash flow is an area we specialize in and preach. We know how important cash flow management is, and want to be there every step of the way to get you what you need to survive and grow. From making sure you get paid on time, tracking data and KPIs to ignite growth, and generating projections and budgeting to strategically plan for your future, we will make sure you get the solutions you need to take control of your cash flow and prosper.

Take Time for Introspection

The pandemic has forced many of us to relocate, work remotely and juggle our work/life balance like never before. In doing so, it’s given us time to reflect on our lives and our businesses.

Taking time for introspection is key. If you do have more time at home, considering spending it on yourself, your family and your business. It’s important to stay as productive and levelheaded as you can.

There’s nothing like spending time with your loved ones. These are the very people many of us get our inspiration and aspiration from as business owners. Because we wear so many hats running our businesses, we sometimes miss out on spending the quality time with them that we need, and if nothing else, the pandemic has given many of us that opportunity.

It’s important to spend it on your business, too. How are you spending your money? What can you do to improve your business going forward? What lessons did you learn from the pandemic that you could apply for positive change and growth in the future? These are all important questions to ask, and can help you find a path to long-term success.

Looking Ahead: We are Here to Help

While these highlight just some of the ways you can grow your business during a pandemic, we hope they’ll help you moving forward. When we come together as a community and work toward common goals, we are better for it.

SBS is here to be your trusted advisor through all of this. If you want to implement some of these tips into your business, or simply want someone to talk to, don’t hesitate to contact us today. We’d love to hear from you, learn about your personal journey and help grow your business.