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Company Culture: Defining, Building and Maintaining It During a Crisis

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 11:38 AM PDT

It's a typical interview, and a business owner asks the would-be employee, "Do you think you would be a good fit with our company culture?" Or maybe the interviewee, given the chance to ask a question, chimes in, "Can you tell me a little about the culture?"

With the attention we pay to "culture," you'd think we were all amateur anthropologists. But there is a reason it plays a significant role in how we think about businesses today. Identifying and understanding your business culture strengthens your company internally and externally. In fact, companies with happy employees outperform their competition by 20%.

Sure, happiness is subjective, but the point is that a cohesive group sharing similar values and working well together leads to greater success – and makes it more likely that the business will survive in hard times.

We're seeing this now during the COVID-19 crisis. While lots of factors are out of their control, many businesses that defined, built and maintained their cultures are still standing. That's the case at my business, an award-winning pizza restaurant chain. Limiting our services to takeout and delivery when Pennsylvania shut down most businesses was not easy – and that's an understatement – but we've been able mitigate our losses and keep up employee morale as best as can be expected in a pandemic.

Defining it

When you're talking about culture, there's a big question: What is it?

This is a twofold question. Not only are you defining what your culture is, but culture in general. Not to get too academic, but dictionary definitions typically break it down to the social norms, institutions, arts, rituals and values of a given nation or group. This fits well into how we might think of a business culture – a collection of beliefs and customs that shape your organization. You might say it's the personality of your business.

That means, perhaps unlike individuals, you can build your business's personality, or culture, into whatever you wish. Buttoned up and professional? Family-friendly? One big party? You can define the culture any way you want, but as a best practice, it should be a good fit for the audience or customer base you are trying to reach.

For our company, our customer base is largely families – but really, it's anyone looking for a good pizza. Part of the way we attract that group, and thus part of our culture, is by highlighting the multiple national and global awards we've won for our pizza. We're champions, and we're a team. That all plays into our culture among the staff and what we show externally.

An important note on defining your culture is that it's ever-changing. As our business grew from one restaurant to two – and now five, with a sixth opening soon – our culture evolved. At first, we perceived ourselves as a scrappy, close-knit underdog family. By the time we had multiple stores and over 100 employees, we couldn't really be a family anymore (at a stretch, we were becoming one of those families with East Coast and West Coast branches keeping in touch by phone). Our culture was torn and had to change. Maybe one day it will again. For now, we're champions.

If you need help defining your own culture or want to go a little more academic, some University of Michigan researchers broke down four basic company culture types: clan, adhocracy, hierarchy and market. These vary in their emphasis on competing sets of values: flexibility and discretion vs. stability and control, and internal focus and integration vs. external focus and differentiation.

  • Clan: Focused on mentorship and teamwork, the company feels like a family. It's difficult to maintain as you grow (who does that sound like?).
  • Adhocracy: Risk-taking innovators, these companies are on the cutting edge.
  • Market: Prioritizing profitability, they are externally focused and goal-oriented.
  • Hierarchy: It's all about structure and stability, getting the job done the way management wants it done. This is most common in corporate America.

Importantly, you don't need to be any one of these specifically. You might be a mix (we're something of a blend of clan and market). But understanding where you fit will help you in the next step.

Building it

Culture takes buy-in from your staff before it can develop. If you want everyone to adopt a certain mindset, you have to know they believe in it. It comes from the top down, so your leadership team, employees and future hires must match the values of the culture you want to create.

Say your culture, like ours, is focused on the concept of being a champion. You want your leaders to be competitive and focused on winning, be it against business rivals or at industry events. This is where those interview questions come into play, but you may want to make them more complex than "Do you fit the company culture?" We might ask a general manager candidate more detailed questions, such as if they can meet goals quickly, if they are competitive or if they have experience being a member of a team. If the answers are yes, we know they are likely a closer fit with the culture than someone who says no.

That doesn't mean you want to hire yourself over and over. Remember, culture is about shared beliefs and values, not shared skill sets. Hiring a group with diverse talents makes delegating duties easier and fosters creativity.

With the right team in place, it's important to set up goals or events that promote the type of culture you want to be. Beat a sales mark (market), set a deadline for a new project that will shake up the market (adhocracy), host an employee brainstorm (clan), or establish an accountability chart (hierarchy). Doing enough of these types of activities that fit into your desired culture will ingrain it in your employees.

Outwardly, you'll want to find ways to align your advertising, marketing and, particularly for B2C companies, customer experience with the culture. Tie the company's internal mindset to its public persona.

Maintaining it and surviving

Now is when you rely on culture. Not only is the pandemic a health crisis, but it has thrown the economy into turmoil and sent the unemployment rate skyrocketing. Companies with a recognizable set of values and a personality that employees believe in and the public trusts will better weather this storm.

Whatever culture your business adopts, communication is key. During the lockdown, we kept regular lines of dialogue open between upper management and employees, whether they were furloughed or not. They are still part of our championship team, after all (or clan, if you want to get technical).

We also shared our process and updates with customers regularly, communicating that our championship products and service were still available, and emphasizing that we were still the same caliber of restaurant they expected. Certainly, we experienced a decline in sales, but nothing as bad as might have been expected during the early, uncertain days of the crisis.

By communicating value and doubling down on our principles, we're still standing tall as our region reopens its businesses. Businesses with other cultures did the same: Innovating adhocracies came up with useful solutions, strong hierarchies projected stability that the public could rely on, and markets shifted their competitive instincts to quickly find ways to lift communities. Culture gave them the inherent skills to survive.

We've talked a lot about just what defines a workplace culture, but I'll add one more explanation from executive coach Alan Adler: "Organizational culture is civilization in the workplace." And without a civilization, we'd certainly crumble.

Ready to Reopen Your Retail Locations? Try These 4 Tips

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 11:07 AM PDT

With shelter-in-place orders cautiously lifted and shoppers eager to leave their homes again, the retail world has an opportunity to begin healing the massive damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Retailers must understand that reopening does not necessarily signal a return to previous norms, though.

The New York Times recently explored the possibilities for a post-pandemic retail reopening. Across the globe, retailers big and small are going above and beyond to reassure customers that their stores are as safe as can be. From employee training to increased cleaning routines and visible protective gear, retailers recognize that the shoppers of 2020 need things that no previous generation expected.

For brick-and-mortar retailers, the reopening period marks the end of a brutal stretch of uncertainty. While consumers remain hesitant and regulations are still in place, at least now retailers can start making efforts to bring their customers back. The helplessness of shutdowns was one of the darkest periods for retail businesses in living memory.

Now, businesses have a long road ahead of them – but they have everything they need to make the journey possible.

One of our recent reports, The Great Reopening of Retail: Insights From 400+ Brick and Mortar Retailers, found that over 85% of retailers believe that generating unique experiences will be integral to their success in reopening. If you own or manage a retail business, keep these tips in mind as you prepare to reopen to the public.

1. Visibly prioritize the health of both employees and visitors.

People have missed shopping, but they won't take their business just anywhere. They still want to stay safe, which means consumers in the first phase of reopening will consistently prefer to shop at businesses that take safety seriously.

The CDC created a set of guidelines in March to help retailers begin to reopen. These guidelines included facts about coronavirus transmission as well as instructions for cleaning and disinfecting. 

But it will be important to implement safety protocols beyond basic recommendations from health authorities. The people most concerned about a second wave of infections do not want the bare minimum. They want to shop in stores that treat their safety as the top priority, and they will not hesitate to turn around and walk out the door if they feel their health is in danger.

Employees deal with the same problems, but they face them in different ways. Empower your employees by providing them the cleaning and protective equipment they need. Back them up if customers get testy about safety requirements. You may lose one irate customer, but you will gain the respect of your staff – and if the news travels, health-conscious consumers will appreciate how seriously your company takes their safety.

2. Improve communications and limit touches using digital signage.

The coronavirus shined a light on a common issue with the traditional shopping experience. People touch lots of things when they go out: things they do or don't buy, the counters, the doors, the railings, menus, shelves, and just about everything else. This means employees need easily accessible and referenced information on cleaning procedures, store safety policies, and personal protection guidelines. Customers also want to know about all the efforts businesses make to ensure their safety.

Options like contactless payments will be critical, but stores need to do more. For example, electronic doors and foot levers to bathrooms and entryways may make hesitant shoppers more comfortable about entering, and you could use digital signage to replace menus and other paper items. 

These precautions don't count if you keep them secret. Make your safety efforts obvious to anyone entering the building. Use signage to provide up-to-date information on your policies and procedures. With digital signage, you can put up employee guidelines in the morning, switch to customer information during the day, then post wrap-up policies for closing, all without requiring anyone to change physical signs.

Many stores will continue to use one-way lanes for several months. If you have chosen that path, use digital signs not only to guide visitors around the store but also to educate them on where they might find products and deals. Every educational or informative opportunity is also an opportunity to deepen customer engagement and drive interest in your products. 

3. Lean harder into long-term changes.

During the pandemic, retailers scrambled to find ways to provide curbside service, no-contact pickup and delivery. As regulations soften and crowds begin to return, do not abandon all that effort you spent developing new systems. Instead, lean harder into those opportunities to differentiate your brand from the rest.

While many stores pull resources away from pandemic-inspired service adjustments, consider investing more resources into those same processes and making them permanent. No one can say how long the masses will remain reluctant to embrace close contact, not to mention how health experts will feel. Your employees may also appreciate continued physical distancing.

Even without health considerations, the world was moving toward more self-service options and higher expectations of convenience before the pandemic struck. Now, you have a golden opportunity to develop your low-contact and self-service infrastructure with an audience eager to help you figure out the best system. In a few years, the conveniences of necessity born of COVID-19 may become the baseline expectation for retail shoppers.

Now, and especially in the long term, people will go to physical stores for reasons outside of just touching products. Many now view a trip to the store as a social outing or a form of entertainment, not just a quick trip to grab the items they need. From grocery stores to secondhand record shops, the atmosphere and engagements with staff matter as much as or more than the products on the shelves.

In the wake of the pandemic, many stores will struggle to provide any experience at all, much less a differentiated one that encourages repeat visitors and makes customers feel comfortable and welcome. With so much on the line, stores should look to digital signage as a way to bridge the gap. 

4. Know your audience.

Similar to any tool, digital signage performs best in the hands of those who can make the most of its potential. Operators who have not yet experimented with digital signage should ask a few basic questions:

  • Who are the people shopping in the store?
  • What are their needs, which products appeal to them, and what role does digital signage play in that relationship?
  • How can you engage them? What variables of messaging can you A/B test to see what leads to the most sales? 

It will be important to revisit these questions as you roll out reopening measures, analyzing the techniques that work best to create more digital messaging that deepens engagement. For example, if your customers spend a lot of time using augmented reality features, perhaps you could add more signs with AR capabilities and develop deeper AR content. 

Above all, stay flexible. The pandemic itself is far from over, and retailers will deal with more regulatory changes and evolutions in customer sentiment throughout this year and next. Continue to communicate with your customers about their expectations, collect feedback on your processes, and stay at the front of the pack on safety so that customers who choose to venture outside choose your business first.

How Will In-Person Sales Meetings Evolve After COVID-19?

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 10:28 AM PDT

Revenues for industries that rely on face-to-face interaction have taken a major hit from the global COVID-19 pandemic. Expenditure on nonessentials has been dramatically cut in favor of maintaining business continuity, making the relationship management aspect of sales more important than ever. 

The potential for an economic depression aside, mandated social distancing has forced us to adapt to fully remote sales strategies, bypassing in-person meetings. But what happens after COVID-19? How will in-person sales meetings evolve once we're no longer forced to be isolated? 

Where will meetings take place after COVID-19?

With this crisis-driven shift to remote work, there's a lot of debate about whether we will see a considerable increase in support for flexible work arrangements, which would greatly reduce the reliance on corporate real estate. With the potential for a dramatic decrease in dedicated office spaces, in-person sales meetings will need to adapt to accommodate alternative meeting locations.

If you don't have a dedicated office when this is all over, here's where you can expect to meet your clients:

  • Pop-up offices in hotels
  • Coffee shops and restaurants
  • Meeting rooms in coworking spaces
  • Community meeting spaces

If you're used to meeting clients in private offices, these alternative settings may take some getting used to. While there's bound to be a few outliers, it's unlikely that your clients who have shifted to working from home will want you to come to their homes for a first meeting. 

Short-term cost sensitivity

A McKinsey & Company report estimates that the virus-suppression efforts in Europe and the United States are likely to lead to a greater decline in economic activity during a single quarter than the total loss of income experienced during the Great Depression. 

During the transition from our current state of emergency to a semblance of normalcy, we can expect cost sensitivity to be a common objection as businesses focus their spending on critical needs to maintain long-term business continuity. Cost sensitivity will continue to decrease the prospects willing to meet in person with the intent to purchase. You and your sales staff will need to maintain strong relationships with your customers to understand their changing priorities in the aftermath.

A sharp decline in travel

Thanks to virtual meeting technology, expensive travel arrangements for field reps were on the decline well before COVID-19. That said, following the pandemic, businesses that regularly used field reps to sell their products are going to limit their travel expenses as much as they can. 

These are the most significant travel changes we can expect to see:

  • Remote work: The same technology investments that have enabled remote work are going to play a part in how business is conducted going forward. Now that more of your potential customers have invested in video conferencing technology, you can reliably involve them in virtual experiences where they can directly interact with you. 

  • Increased localization: Businesses with a history of purchasing globally produced products will show increasingly local buying habits. Cost sensitivity, a desire to reduce reliance on international markets, and concerns regarding the environmental impacts of international travel when suitable virtual alternatives are available are all going to advance this trend significantly following COVID-19.

  • Essential travel: Your sales travel will usually be reserved for the later stages of the sales cycle, with early prospecting relying more on digital technology and virtual experiences. In our post-pandemic world, we can expect most travel expenses to be reserved for the crucial sales stages that can't be easily replicated with a virtual experience.

The fall of conferences

In-person conferences won't necessarily go away completely, but we can certainly expect a big change in their prevalence. An early indicator of this came when O'Reilly Media shut down its in-person conferences forever, which included laying off all of its related staff. 

With all the planning and coordination involved in conferences, event coordinators who intend to continue offering in-person conferences will not begin scheduling events until they're certain that their target date is safe from COVID-19 restrictions. Event coordinators simply cannot afford to carefully plan the time-sensitive portions of large-scale events if there's any risk that they'll be canceled or postponed.

While virtual conferences are certainly a viable option, the main benefit of conferences is the unplanned, casually social in-person meetings. How can this be recreated? While online communities partly fill that gap, we can expect that local meetups and smaller-scale conferences will step up to fill the void of large in-person conferences.

A shift to virtual experiences

Speaking of reduced travel and increased virtual experiences, let's think about how your current sales strategies have evolved during COVID-19. If you've invested in new processes and technologies in an effort to maintain business continuity, surely you don't expect to completely forgo the new skills and infrastructure you've integrated once the dust settles.

The demand for social distance to slow the spread of the virus has forced field reps to shift to fully remote sales strategies. Digital sales and marketing techniques such as webinars, virtual meetings, and telephone calls currently overshadow conferences and in-person meetings as companies prioritize their expenses for critical functions. 

How will the magic of in-person meetings be supplemented by virtual experiences in the wake of this pandemic?

Extended reality (XR)

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies are becoming more affordable. Simple AR apps can use your customer's tablet or smartphone to give them an interactive visual reference of your offerings. 

Going further than this, stand-alone VR technologies that do not require end users to have a dedicated PC, such as Oculus Quest, will be an excellent resource for sales teams to provide guided virtual tours. If your products rely on immersion to land the sale, you could lend headsets to customers that showcase your products with custom VR applications to replicate in-person experiences. 

The equipment and round-trip shipping will be far more affordable than international travel, providing a viable alternative to replicate the magic of in-person meetings using virtual options.

Adapting physical product demos

Some products simply can't be properly demonstrated with a strictly virtual experience. With the stronger emphasis on virtual experiences following COVID-19, virtual meetings will need to be carefully coordinated to ensure that prospects have physical samples in their hands leading up to the meeting.

Is the handshake dead?

In the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak, many conferences demanded that attendees refrain from shaking hands in an effort to reduce vectors for transmission. This has led many to wonder how social greetings will be influenced following COVID-19. 

While the pandemic has changed the way we interact physically with others right now, once we return to a state of normalcy, we can expect that the greetings we were accustomed to will largely remain as they were, with a small portion of people shifting to alternative greetings such as bowing, fist bumps and namaste-inspired gestures. 

That said, when the time comes, pay attention to any new social norms that pop up. Are people more physically distant than they used to be? Are they eager to return to normal? You'll need to adapt your approach as you would in any new situation – with keen observation, mirroring and empathy.

How do you think in-person sales meetings will evolve after COVID-19? We can be certain that there will be long-term implications of the current economic suppression, investments in new infrastructure and the rise of remote workers. While in-person meetings are not going anywhere, we can reasonably expect increased virtualization and emerging technologies to forever alter how we approach sales.

What Is an Electronic Filing System?

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 07:17 AM PDT

Keeping your documents organized in today's super-digitized, speedy world can be difficult and time-consuming. Whether you use local storage on your computers or mobile devices, or the increasingly popular cloud storage option, it's important to implement a computerized filing system that enables your business to create, store, manage, and share documents and other files with ease.

This article will explain what a computerized filing system is, how it differs from a traditional filing system and how you can create an electronic filing system for your business.

What is a computerized filing system?

A computerized or electronic filing system organizes and stores your business's files on a hard drive or network space. The system can be software- or internet-based, or a simple desktop folder/file system on a computer.

Why are computerized filing systems used?

The primary reason why people use a computerized filing system is it's an easy way to safely store and organize files. This organization largely comes in the form of indexing, which categorizes and registers every document entered into the system based on specific properties that you can customize, such as file size or function.

Computerized systems also offer greater options for securing your files and sharing them, making it easier for team members to collaborate on shared documents.

 

Editor's note: Looking for document management software for your business? Fill out the questionnaire below to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs. 

 

Differences between traditional and computerized databases

Traditional systems are generally paper-based and manually organized, whereas electronic systems – as the name suggests – are digital, with documents organized and stored digitally.

Traditional filing systems tend to take up a lot of physical space – all of those papers require boxes or filing cabinets to store them – and these systems are susceptible to physical damage like fading, fire, flooding or other damage.

Computerized or electronic filing systems are generally more budget-friendly, they free up physical space, and offer many benefits that help you organize your documents and share them across your company with ease.

Switching from a traditional to a computerized filing system can greatly increase your system's functionality by automating many aspects of the process, like indexing and tracking.

Benefits of a computerized filing system

Here are seven ways that implementing a digital filing system can help your business manage documents more efficiently.

  1. Automatic indexing: Indexing registers, categorizes, and then organizes files based on specific criteria that you can customize, such as file function or size, making it easy to retrieve and organize documents.

  2. Security: Electronic filing helps protect your information since a data breach or storage issue could be disastrous for your business. Using a computerized filing system provides safeguards such as managed access control, audit trails, automatic backups and password protection. If a disaster strikes, like a fire or flood, your files are stored safely in the cloud, away from physical harm.

  3. Regulatory compliance support: If you operate in a regulated industry, such as healthcare, electronic filing offers regulatory compliance support for HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, Good Manufacturing Practices by the FDA or ISO 9000/9001. This capability provides your business with invaluable protection and peace of mind as you process critical or sensitive documents.

  4. Scalability: A major benefit of computerized filing versus traditional filing is the ability to scale, or grow, the system alongside your business. Think about which advanced features you'll want as your business grows. It is important that you choose software that grows with your business so you do not have to go through the process of switching software. [Read related article: Advice for Choosing a Small Business Document Management System]
  5. Collaboration: An electronic filing system makes it simple for users to share and collaborate on documents. Look for tools such as live editing, file sharing, plugin integrations and access restriction.

  6. Integrations: If your business uses a CRM application or ERP database, look for filing software that integrates with these programs – this will make your daily life much easier. Of course, you can use filing software that does not integrate with your CRM or ERP, but it may limit your workflow capabilities; that is, it may inhibit your team's ability to access, edit, back up, and monitor documents that are created within your CRM or ERP. Many document management solutions integrate with email programs such as Microsoft Outlook. [Read related article: How to Choose the Best Microsoft Document Management System]
  7. Quick, easy document retrieval: Searching for the right document – when you have an entire business's worth to go through – can be a nightmare and can even cost you money. PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that the process of finding one lost document costs a company $122 on average. Further, PWC estimates that of the 10,000-plus documents the average business handles, 7.5% are lost. With the right indexing procedures in place, finding a document takes mere seconds, and employees can remotely access the documents they need as well.

How to create a computerized filing system

Creating your own computerized filing system takes time, but it is well worth the time and effort. The result is a well-thought-out and organized system.

Here are six steps to creating a computerized filing system for your business.

1. Decide who will have ownership of your filing system.

If you are not overseeing the filing process, assign an administrative staff member to be responsible. Make sure your whole team is aware of what changes are being implemented and who is responsible for overseeing the process. This lets employees know whom they should go to with questions and who is designated as the point person in keeping track of important documents.

2. Get organized.

Take an inventory of all the documents you have, how big they are, what their function is, how long they need to be stored, etc. Next, loosely organize them accordingly. This is the kick-off of your actual filing process, so think carefully about how you organize documents.

Keep your main goal in mind: to make it as easy as possible for someone to find a document quickly. Folders should have a clear sense of order, they should not be cluttered, and they should not hinder your compnay's workflow. Be consistent in your labeling and separating.

3. Use subfolders.

You don't need a folder for every small subgroup. For example, you can make one folder for "Medical Records," and create subfolders within that folder categories by month or by year to keep your system orderly and uncluttered.

4. Decide on a naming system, and stick to it.

Naming your files is a vital part of the filing process. Proper and consistent naming makes it easy for anyone in your organization to quickly find a document, because they have a well-founded assumption of what the file might be named and where it might be stored.

Make sure the file name makes sense and includes the most important information regarding what the document is or says.

5. Integrate paper and electronic documents in your filing system.

If you have important paper documents that must be retained permanently, create a dedicated place within your filing system for those documents. Consider making electronic copies of the paper originals, or if you must store the paper documents, organize them according to your system.

6. Inform your team about how the filing system works.

Once your filing is complete, make sure your entire organization is clear on how the system works and how documents must be named, filed and stored going forward. Create a document that outlines all of your filing guidelines. Keep it in your files, and include training on your filing process as part of your onboarding process.

How to name files on your computer

Naming your files effectively is one of the most important aspects of an efficient filing system. Without a consistent file-naming convention in place, finding documents becomes confusing, difficult and frustrating. If you start with good habits, you set your business up for success.

To start, understand that there are two types of files on your computer – the ones you create and the ones you collect.

Create a system that differentiates these two file types in a way that makes sense, whether that's marking it in the file name or dictating where the file is stored.

Next, decide on a naming system. What works best varies from business to business. You have to determine the best naming system for your organization. Many businesses use a combination of name and date so documents are easy to find according to how old they are.

Here are a few suggestions to follow when naming your files:

  • Be descriptive
  • Be consistent
  • Avoid special characters (%, *, @, etc.)
  • Use dates
  • Include version numbers, if applicable

Small Business COVID-19 Diaries: Part 4

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 04:00 AM PDT

As states begin easing restrictions that were put in place to thwart the spread of COVID-19, many small business owners still find themselves picking up the pieces. While the work never stopped – even while operations were suspended or limited – many are finding that a return to "normalcy" isn't exactly what they expected.

In this installment of business.com's small business COVID-19 diaries, we catch up with three entrepreneurs who have emerged from the initial shock of the pandemic in very different ways.

Are you interested in telling your COVID-19 story? Join the ongoing conversation on business.com's community.

Todd Spodek, managing partner of Spodek Law Group

Spodek Law Group PC is a law firm in New York City that provides litigation services for criminal defense as well as divorce and family law. The firm employs 10 people.

Managing partner Todd Spodek, who is a business.com community member, was approved for a Paycheck Protection Program loan of $200,000 in April under the initial round of funding for the program. Since then, he has cut extraneous expenses, caught up with past clients and legal adversaries, established referral networks to help clients access needed assistance, and established a pro bono program for first responders.

While Spodek acknowledges his business has been interrupted, he is largely optimistic.

"To be honest, everything kind of worked out OK," he said.

He attributes the success of the firm to effective planning at the outset of the pandemic, including an immediate cutting of expenses, pivoting to a remote work model, negotiating with landlords, and community outreach efforts that generated significant goodwill and helped to establish new referral networks.

"A lot of businesses are focused on sales … but the more you focus on sales when people are not in that mindset, the more distance you're putting into that relationship," Spodek said. "I took the approach that … our clients need the help now and need someone to organize things for them. We're focused on providing help. When their life implodes, we're there."

According to Spodek, the firm does this through initiatives like the pro bono program for first responders. It also partnered with an organization called Blueground, which provides fast, furnished housing to people who find themselves without a living arrangement on short notice. Additionally, the firm partners with a service called Crisis Text Line, which offers 24/7 support with a counselor.

Spodek emphasized that while he is proud his firm can provide that kind of support, it also goes a long way toward generating business in the future.

"When things improve, who do you think they're going to turn to?" he said. "I think a lot of businesses focus on selling their services, but you can provide much greater value if you are a trusted advisor to your clients."

Spodek's outlook is positive but measured. He said that although his firm has largely weathered the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic, balancing risk remains an important part of doing business in a post-coronavirus world.

"New York has passed this threshold where the numbers have improved to the point where people are more comfortable going out to the park, out to the street, out to the stores," he said. "Everyone has to balance that risk the way they see fit."

For Spodek, that means not pushing employees to return to the office until they are comfortable. It also meant extending payment plans and accommodations to clients during the crisis, many of whom have begun to repay what they owe.

"We've positioned ourselves so … we will be able to cherry-pick the clients that need our services, and those who don't need our services, we'll be able to point in the right direction."

For other small business owners dealing with the economic challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, Spodek offered the following advice: "I think the key is really to prepare yourself," he said. "The more preparation a business does, the better they're able to weather the storm no matter what it may be – lawsuits, employees leaving, competition."

Spodek added, "A lot of businesses won't be here after COVID-19, but the businesses that prosper from all this are the ones that are diversified, created value for their clients, and that when it was time to stand up for something, they did."

Edgar Comellas, owner of Aces Wild Casino Parties

Aces Wild Casino Parties is an entertainment rental business based in Orlando, Florida. Aces Wild brings the casino to your event, including dealer tables, dealers, decorations, even exotic animals.

Aces Wild Casino Parties has three full-time employees and works with about 80 independent contractors at any given time, said owner Edgar Comellas.

Comellas previously received a small loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, although it was not the full amount for which he applied. He was concerned about whether the money would be eligible for forgiveness due to confusion surrounding the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) guidance. However, he had no choice but to use the funds to cover payroll expenses.

"I'm talking with my CPA, talking with the bank, and everything is within their parameters," Comellas said, hopeful that his loan will be forgiven. "We'll see because no one has said when it will actually be forgiven. You need to have a very, very good paper trail to show these funds were used appropriately, which is understandable."

While Florida has gradually been reopening businesses, including restaurants and bars in phase two of its economic reopening plan, the events industry in which Comellas participates remains stalled. The bellwether for events in Orlando, Comellas said, is Disney World, which has targeted mid-July as a potential reopening date.

"The event industry is dependent on outside individuals coming to local attractions," Comellas said. "Right now, we're just sitting back, working on SEO, working on content and social media. But the prospect of business … we're starting to get requests for quotes for October, November."

If it takes that long for business to ramp up, Comellas said, he might have to close the doors on Aces Wild Casino Parties or reimagine the business model altogether.

"It makes me rethink perhaps the whole business altogether," Comellas said. "We might have to move from one concept to another – it could be casino dealer training. That's another market we could start reaching out to, especially since we can do it online."

Ultimately, Comellas likened his experience to navigating the five stages of grief.

"You're in denial, then there's bargaining … and acceptance," Comellas said. "Bargaining was 'Oh I'll get some funding from the PPP and try to keep it alive.' When you see that it doesn't matter, and you can keep pumping money into this, but there's going to be the same result … you just can't go with that plan right now.

"I'm in the acceptance stage where it might just be time to close it down and refocus on something else," he added. "When you're forced to take time away from work, you realize what things you really need to survive, what makes you happy and what you want to do with your time."

For small business owners struggling with the same difficult decision, Comellas offered the following advice: "Just like in nature, things burn down in a forest. Nonnative plants don't regrow, but things that are natural and should be there grow again," Comellas said. "You can let the brand fall, but if you had good clients and a good product, it can be rebuilt – a little bit cleaner, a little bit sleeker and a little bit faster."

Kendra Eaton, owner of Sprinkled with Pink

Sprinkled with Pink is a Dallas-based small business that produces handmade, personalized accessories and apparel for a range of occasions and events. The business employs two full-time employees and five part-time employees.

After a significant wait, owner Kendra Eaton told business.com Sprinkled with Pink was approved for a portion of the Paycheck Protection Program loan on May 1. In the month since, Eaton was able to bring back most of her team, many of whom had been furloughed when COVID-19 first led to economic shutdowns across the country.

"I'm really grateful we were able to get the funding, but there is still a lot of uncertainty around what we will owe and what will be forgiven," Eaton said. "[The government] acted quickly to get this money out, which is good, but now business owners have to make decisions about how to get all this forgiven. It makes you leery about spending any money."

Additionally, Eaton said bringing her team back to work meant implementing social distancing policies that would help protect the health of everyone in the workplace. This includes establishing rotating schedules, wearing masks and staying more than six feet away from one another, she said.

"We made sure we're social distancing," Eaton said. "We have a skeleton crew and made sure people are working at different times so we don't have too many people in the office. We have 2,600 square feet and seven people, so we can spread out."

As far as business, Eaton said their e-commerce model has afforded them the ability to pivot and continue generating revenue through the pandemic. One creative collection the team came up with was quarantine themed; another was based on the popular Netflix series "Tiger King." Although Sprinkled with Pink was able to continue operating, Eaton said it was far from uninterrupted.

"We want to just, for the rest of the year, hit our levels for 2019," she said. "Before, we thought we'd increase by 65% or 70%, but now we're just trying to hit the same levels as last year."

Eaton offered the following advice to other small business owners continuing to navigate the novel coronavirus pandemic: "Just have a plan for the rest of the year," she said. "Don't just plan a day out, even though it's hard to plan. You're kind of guessing but you need to have a plan."

For Sprinkled with Pink, this means multiple strategies and contingency planning for both ideal and catastrophic circumstances.

"And just keep your head up too. It can be a stressful situation, but if you're working as hard as you can, you need to relax to keep a hang of things," Eaton said. "Being in depressed mode is not going to help your business or employees, and they need you to have a clear head."

How are business.com community members emerging from the pandemic?

During our small business COVID-19 diaries series, we are engaged in a parallel conversation with the business.com community. Here's what some of our community members had to say:

"My company's revenue dropped about 30% last month compared to what I had forecasted and what we did in March. I still consider us very well positioned, though, both because our margins are very high and because we're small [and] flexible. I expect us to bounce back relatively quickly and maybe even come out ahead, as our bigger competitors may struggle more and be forced to lay people off. Overall, I'm dropping my revenue forecast by 25% for the entire year, but I'm still optimistic about the long-term picture." – Biron Clark, founder of Career Sidekick and a business.com community member.

"I keep hearing the words 'new normal' in the media and from colleagues, but the reality is that we are now living in a new economy. The sooner that we pivot our businesses toward this new economy, the better off we all will be … Not all of us can pivot our businesses, of course, but those of us who can need to do it now. It is a good exercise for all of us, as business owners, to take some time to step away from the day to day and think hard through the consequences of what is happening. I scheduled a few hours every week for calls with industry leaders whom I respect to discuss the current situation and walk through the likely scenarios for our industry. It was well worth it, at least one of those conversations changed my approach to a particular negotiation and resulted in a much more positive outcome." – Michael Puscar, CEO of Oiga Technologies and a business.com community member.

"Remember that your survival hinges on agility…. In a crisis, your company's survival hinges on your ability to mobilize and inspire your talent. Your decisions and actions determine whether your people will be an asset or a liability. Ideally, your talent ensures adaptation by quickly developing and implementing a new operating model … While it's hard to manage panic and the impulse to make knee-jerk decisions, objectivity will be your saving grace. You can maximize strategic performance by crafting an aligned talent strategy that empowers your employees to handle the execution themselves. Mitigate your chances for failure and ensure success by using analytics and data to design your teams and hire the right people in each position." – Alphonso Cheponis, president and talent optimization consultant at Straightline Consulting Group and a business.com community member.

Whether you were able to successfully navigate the COVID-19 pandemic or your business was unable to survive the novel coronavirus, the business.com community aims to connect you with the resources you need to recover and keep building. Are you interested in telling your COVID-19 story? Join the conversation today by joining the business.com community.
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