The Short- and Long-Term Plans to Scale Back Up

Freelancers and gig workers often use the phrase “feast or famine” to describe the way their income rises and falls from month to month. Recently, small-business owners have experienced the same phenomenon. 

As the country continues to reopen, businesses are welcoming customers back in numbers they may not be prepared to handle. That’s because going from zero to a steady flow of shoppers can be challenging, especially if your business offers a service that no one was able to access for the last few months. 

While appreciative of the renewed business, you likely need to figure out how to ramp up staffing and adhere to new restrictions that involve time-consuming tasks. Ideally, you want to meet these new guidelines without losing your customers in the process. 

Besides addressing the immediate needs to serve customers, you should also start planning a longer-term approach to your business in light of ongoing questions and uncertainty around the progression and spread of the pandemic, as well as any accompanying shutdowns.

Finding the right strategy to scale up now and for the long-term can be challenging. Use these guidelines to help simplify the process. 

1. Assess how many customers you can serve within the new guidelines. 

Based on social distancing guidelines, you may only be able to safely serve a fraction of customers compared to the days before the pandemic. 

Come up with a realistic number that aligns with these guidelines and ensures excellent service. If you have a brick-and-mortar location, you will need to look at the available physical space. Look for areas where you might expand in order to regain some space to use for tables or a waiting area. 

Many cities are rethinking their zoning regulations. Potential changes may allow some businesses to expand their seating onto the sidewalk and into parking lot areas. Determine if this is possible before calculating that realistic number. 

One of the best ways to scale now and in the future is to maintain a productive dialogue with customers. Their thoughts and impressions of what’s going on can inform what you can and should do to position your business going forward.

Even if you are a mobile or virtual business, the new guidelines may adversely impact the number of customers you can serve. Based on current demand, including inquiries about reopening plans, you may be able to estimate your optimal appointment, service or product output levels. Measure the costs of hiring additional help to meet the anticipated need or invest in technology or other strategies to serve those customers.  

2. Change your hours.

One of the fastest ways to start serving more guests within the new space guidelines is to keep your business open longer. This might mean opening earlier, keeping the doors open later or adding weekends. If you are a mobile or virtual business, you can do the same by offering a longer delivery or on-site service time. If you have employees, the first step you may want to take is discussing your plans to change your hours with them to ensure you’ll have staff to accommodate the shift.  

It may be difficult to work additional hours, but this might be temporary until more restrictions are lifted in the future. As you start to reap the rewards of increased revenue over the extended hours, you may be able to hire additional people to help cover those shifts. 

3. Use an automated reservation or scheduling system.

You may have already received social media or email inquiries from excited customers anxious to do business with you again. That enthusiasm is both encouraging and stressful. You want to serve everyone who’s interested but you must do so safely. 

One way to facilitate the process is to invest in an automated scheduling system that lets your customers and prospects book appointments or reservations through your website or app. These reservation system platforms reassure customers they have a firm time slot so you don’t lose their business. 

Filling in times on your schedule can also help you plan more efficiently, including aligning staffing, inventory and the overall operation with demand. Moreover, it’s a good way to encourage customers to make multiple bookings over the upcoming months to maintain a steady revenue stream and empower those longer-term growth plans.

4. Reach out to your customers and share the new guidelines.

One of the best ways to scale now and in the future is to maintain a productive dialogue with customers. Their thoughts and impressions of what’s going on can inform what you can and should do to position your business going forward. 

Your customers are the pulse of your business’s performance. They will share if they are working and have disposable income or they continue to struggle. As a result, you will have a better idea of how you can accommodate them and address their needs. 

Communicating directly and proactively with your customers helps them better understand your business. Knowing you face challenges, they may be more patient and understanding about why you struggle to deliver the same service level they were accustomed to before the pandemic.  

5. Provide incentives, discounts and promotions to thank returning customers.

Those conversations with customers will also prove valuable in shaping your short- and long-term promotional strategy for increasing revenue. 

During the pandemic, many businesses offered family meal plans or special deals that included cleaning products or other value-added items. These promotions spoke directly to their customers’ needs. The same strategy continues to be effective because it focuses on providing value rather than on initiating an upselling or cross-selling strategy during fragile economic times. 

6. Be flexible.

As uncertainty continues, the most important thing you can do is remain flexible so you can scale back or up, depending on what happens next. 

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