6 Ideas How To Survive in Business During A Disaster In 2024

1. Stay connected to your customers.

Keep Going! Don't stop your marketing.

When small businesses see a decrease in their revenue, they often cut back on their marketing. This is a mistake because that's when you need to focus on your marketing more than ever.

While other companies are cutting back on their marketing efforts, you can stand out by continuing to invest in your brand and serving your customers.

Even when sales are down and budgets are cut, there are ways you can keep going.

Here are some ideas to stay connected to your customers:

1. Connect with your existing customers and send them an email to to check on their status - be friendly and personal.
2. Post encouraging messages.
3. Connect with your local businesses to see if you could support each other, even if it is just to come up with ideas about how to survive. And you can do this virtually.
4. Think of ways your products can support your customers and sell them at a discount. This is a great way to get new customers.
5. Bundle some of your products for a larger basket value.
6. Create a Giveaway and start a monthly competition - ask people to share to win.
7. Connect to customers through chat - personal conversations are a great relationship builder.
8. Keep your store open and if you cannot deliver on time, for instance, inform your customers, and they will be patient and understand.
9. Add dropshipping to your store. See if there are more complementary products you can add to your line of business.

It was very disconcerting for a customer to get to their favorite online store and it is 'Closed for Covid!' - this is one way to send your customer to your competition.

My experience after Covid while visiting family in Florida, a Hotdog cafe was closed on National Hotdog Day. My six-year-old grandson was disappointedly wondered why they didn't have hotdogs on the day they were supposed to. An huge marketing opportunity lost.

Donna, the owner of TheMissingPiecePuzzle.com, kept her business going while her competition closed their online stores. She tripled her business through the Pandemic. She had to send her employee home, and she worked 18 hours some days to get her orders fulfilled. She was also available on the phone to help her customers, which created a personal relationship with her customers.

2. Use Your Time Wisely

When sales are slow, you have more time to focus on your business. Use this time to finish the projects you have been putting off and add new ones.

To succeed, a business needs forward movement and consistency. If you stop being in front of your customers, they will forget about you and move on with someone else.

Marketers and salespeople who have studied the psychology of decision-making say that it takes at least seven connections with a consumer to make a buying decision. But with online competition so crowded and information deluging consumers, buying decisions are now shaped by two things: stories and relationships - personal connections.

You have heard the saying: “People buy from people they know and trust.”

You can use your time to take action and get stuff done.

Here are some ideas how to move forward:

1. Write the blogs that are on your list.

2. Create some videos to show your online visitors what happens in your business on a daily basis.

3. Get your old product photos updated. Get some Lifestyle photos uploaded for your products.

4. Update your story and About Page - make it phenomenal.

5. Research your competition and see what they are doing and do it better.

6. Create some interesting social media posts for the next few months.

7. Plan your promotions for the year. Dust off those goals in your head and start implementing some of them.

This is the time you can gain an extra edge by being proactive. Don't waste your time and do nothing.

3. Be flexible in your business.

Don't let stress get the best of you.

Mark Shaeffer said: "As businesses, we need to zag when everybody is zigging". 

Here are some ideas how to be flexible:

1. Your store hours - staying open longer and being available on your  online chat so that your customers can immediately get attention.

2. Prices - discounts are a good way to bring in new customers. If you don't have a sales, offering a better discount will bring in more sales and traffic. Money is money!

3. Online shipping - if you have not offered 'Free Shipping', maybe now is the time to add that to your store.

4. Employee schedules - if your employees have to stay home during the crisis, maybe they can help you with some online tasks. You would be surprised what your employees are capable of. Ask them.

5. Joint venture opportunities - leverage your business with another business to support each other. This will get you a wider audience and maybe hopefully more customers.

4. Reach out to the community.

If you've been affected by a disaster, chances are the community as a whole needs help. Find the immediate needs that surround you and help them in whatever capacity you can.

Here are some ideas to help your community:

1. Have extra inventory that's applicable to needs? Donate it.

2. Restaurants are always the first to get affected by a disaster. Support your local restaurants by ordering food for pickup.

3. Donate some food to local shelters.

4. Give your support to the community by physically helping.

5. Create an online local group to keep up the spirits, and this is great for the exchange of crucial information.

Stay present and flexible, the community will take notice.

5. Have a positive mental attitude

A positive mental attitude means approaching every situation and challenge in life with optimism. 

When you have a positive mental attitude, you can see the benefits in difficult situations. This is probably the hardest thing to do when disaster strikes our lives. But your actions will affect those around you.

The benefit of a positive mental attitude is that it helps you think more broadly and come up with creative solutions.

When you try to stay positive, it helps you to think clearly and act differently instead of giving up. You need to be in a positive mindset if you want your brain to react differently to situations rather than immediately giving up.

It's a lot harder to do simple tasks and be active when you're thinking negative thoughts.

Taking charge of your emotional needs in a positive way will have a major impact on your employees, your vendors, and your community.

Here are some ideas on how I keep a positive mental attitude:

1. Smile when you wake up. It's almost impossible to be in a bad mood if you see the world through a smile. If you wake up bouncing, your day is more productive.

2. When someone asks how you are, respond in a positive way. My response is always 'Fabulous!' This is such a small effort, but it affects people around you.

3. When you encounter a challenge, stop, relax and calm your mind. Think of a way to solve the problem instead of thinking of it as a problem. I literally stop my body and focus on what it is, then I find a simple solution.

4. Ensure that you surround yourself with like-minded people who you can communicate with at any time. There are a few people with whom I communicate via messenger or text. Everyone is busy with their lives as well, so no answers are expected, but they are appreciated.

5. Exchange ideas or brainstorm with colleagues a few times a month, if not weekly. This is a great way to create a collaborative environment, especially for solopreneurs.

6. Our life partners can have a huge influence on our attitude, especially if they tend to see a half-empty glass while you see a half-full one. It's probably the most challenging area in your life, but maintaining a positive mindset benefits everyone around you. 

7. Goals and plans - having a roadmap to follow is a positive move forward. You are most vulnerable to negative thoughts when you are floundering. One of my habits is to set goals and adjust them as situations change.

8. Keep a journal. Writing down your thoughts can be a freeing experience, especially negative ones. Writing helps you declutter your mind, so you can think more creatively. I keep a journal for new business or personal idea. Journalling frees up my thoughts for the tasks I need to accomplish because I know I won't forget about my brilliant new ideas.

6. Leave the box and be creative.

Our creativity drives our businesses. Whether you have a product or services business.  Creating new ways to solve problems for customers or adding new ideas and products, is a positive action that is moving forward which is part of being successful.

Here are some examples of eCommerce owners' creativity:

Kellie, the owner of Parisians Pure Skincare, prepared organic sanitizers during Covid and sent a small sample bottle of her hand cream as part of the package for free. The purpose is to help your customers and also to get new customers at a low price.

Think about what you can add to your products. I know it is hard because, obviously, gift ideas are not something people buy in a disaster.

Donna, the owner of The Missing Piecer Puzzle company, is a gift business and not something that comes to mind when you are shopping online for essentials. During Covid, she was promoted her puzzles to people staying at home who needed to entertain the kids. This was her message: "Create an adventure puzzle to get you through the long days staying in isolation!"

So the bottom line is - Take Action!

"One theory is that people who think positively tend to be less affected by stress. Research suggests that having more positive automatic thoughts helps people become more resilient in the face of life's stressful events. People who had high levels of positive thinking were more likely to walk away from stressful life events with a higher sense of the meaningfulness of life." ~ Very Welll Mind

"There are many characteristics that are shared among successful people. Hard work is an obvious one. Creativity is often another link between those who have been successful in their fields. The willingness to take risk is also involved. It’s sometime overlooked but more often than not people who achieve success have a positive mental attitude. " ~ Hospitality Search

Be a leader for those who are unsure of what's to come. Show them that rebuilding starts with a positive notion.