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If you stand at the helm of an SME in South Africa at the moment, one thing is for sure – you’re feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy first-hand. Every single small to medium enterprise has been impacted in some way, and for the most part it’s not good.

As South Africans’ livelihoods continue to be affected by the pandemic and ongoing lockdown measures, and the prices of basic goods continue to rise, purse strings are being pulled tighter and household budgets become smaller. As such, almost every single business out there has taken a knock.

The good news is that there are ways to mitigate the impact that the pandemic has had on your enterprise. It just takes some innovative thinking. Here are ideas to consider:

Prioritise expenses

Every business has expenses and overheads. The trick lies in figuring out which ones to prioritise when you need to pull the reins in. For instance, many business owners’ first move is to cancel their marketing endeavours because it’s not essential to the day-to-day running of their business. However, this also means you stop ‘talking to’ existing and prospective customers.

If you feel unsure about which expenses should take preference, it might be worth your while to discuss the matter with a creative accountant – i.e. a forward-thinking bean counter that can look beyond the numbers to see the proverbial woods for the trees. They can help you to make sense of your financial landscape and where you can afford to make cuts in your budget.

Lean into a current need

Ask yourself how your clientele’s needs have changed during the pandemic, and see if you can find a way to address a new niche. For instance, many fashion designers took to creating masks during hard lockdown. Likewise, cinemas started offering newly-released titles via a streaming service. Think outside of the box to offer products and services that work for the ‘new normal’.

Leverage the power of social media

If your company is not embracing the incredible reach and versatility of social media marketing platforms yet, now is the time to do so. Unlike most traditional marketing avenues, you can tailor your social media spend to generate maximum exposure exactly where you need it. Even if you can’t afford the services of a digital marketing agency, there is plenty you can learn from online tutorials.

There you have it – a few changes you can make in order to take steps to rebuild in the wake of the ongoing pandemic. Feel free to reach out to a member of the Experity team to find out more about our financial services; we’re here to help you make sense of all the money matters so you can focus on running your business.  d