Amidst the uncertain and rapidly changing global issues at hand, businesses are facing challenges like they’ve never faced before. Some of which threaten the feasibility of how they operate. The key to surviving and thriving right now is adaptability, and restructuring business architecture. Fortunately, with the digital landscape and the capabilities virtual platforms present, there are more options now than there were during previous financial crises.
But, and it’s a very important but, tools are simply tools. How you leverage them is what determines success. Always keep your customer in mind. It’s less about what you can do, but what need you are fulfilling.
Adjust Your Business Model to Fulfill A Customer Need
I woke up to an email from Chronic Ink, a popular Canadian tattoo shop with roots in Markham, Ontario, announcing a new line of hats as part of an artist series featuring a design by Tony Hu, a Toronto native tattoo artist. By focusing on their big why and sharing their purpose that extends beyond the tactical act of providing tattoo services – and to quote their site, “we wake up every day because we want to do the best art tattoos in the world”, they’ve seamlessly expanded their services and extended their business into products.
During a provincial shutdown, getting a tattoo won’t be a reality for some time. But Chronic Ink was able to produce something that would resonate with their customers and still promote the artist’s work. Whether this launch was in response to government closures or not, their business still has relevance beyond where they started. Constantly adapting your business model is imperative to withstand the test of time.
Be Future-Minded – Failproof Your Business with a Digital Platform
Right now, traditional brick and mortar businesses should ideally look to move their operations online. While the move presents far fewer requirements from the traditional business, it’s no easy task. There’s no barrier to entry per se, you can buy a domain and use drag-drop templates form website platforms. You can even sign up on an ad platform like Google Ads and Facebook Ads Manager, but again the key to viability is in the strategy and method of execution. Tools are just tools after all.
Currently, Shopify is extending its 30-day free trial to 90-days in response to COVID-19. I suggest approaching everything with a minimum viable product mindset right now. If you are strictly brick and mortar, set up your online shop and offer gift cards to start. Be future-minded and look at what new needs we as consumers have. As consumers, we have an entirely new set of needs as well.
Get in touch with us to see how you can make the move to digital.
