The outbreak has caused many small businesses to close their doors, but with the government’s recent announcement permitting certain businesses and venues to reopen from 4 July, now is the time to consider a reopening plan. Local councils and the UK Government have started to publish Covid-secure reopening guidelines and what the new normal will look like, but in the meantime, read on to learn our tips to reopen a small business after lifting lockdown restrictions.
Why should you have a reopening plan?
Reopening your small business after a nationwide lockdown isn’t like opening for the first time. There are new considerations to make and processes to put in place that will change the way your business operates.
Because there is a lot of complexity when it comes to reopening after a lockdown is lifted, having a well-documented, thoughtful reopening plan in place ahead of time can help open your doors and start collecting revenue faster when the time comes.
Steps to writing a reopening plan
1. Take stock of what you’ve learned about your business.
While your business is closed, you may have time to observe and reflect on the new landscape your business will re-enter.
What did you learn about your business, your employees, and your customers during this time? What did you learn from other businesses in your industry? Are there new processes for social distancing and reopening guidelines you could put in place to improve your business? New products you’d like to offer?
Take stock of these learnings and find ways to improve when you reopen. You may come out of this lockdown with a new business model, or you may just make a few tweaks to your current one. Taking time to reflect and deciding how your business can evolve is important to do first as it will dictate your reopening plan.
2. List your areas of focus.
Once you’ve taken stock of some of the things you’ve learned and changes you might make, it’s time to plan how you’ll reopen your small business more concretely. The easiest way to do this is by breaking it up into focus areas pertinent to your business.
The areas you pick should be specific to your business, but here are a few to get you started:
- Finances
- Supply chain
- Physical location
- Shipping and logistics
- Workforce
- Regulatory changes
- Customers
3. Create a reopening plan for each area of focus.
Your plan for each area of focus should be specific to the way you plan to operate your business going forward. Here is a format you can follow and questions you can ask yourself to get started..
Finances: Here you can detail what financial assets you have today, their liquidity, and the total amount you have in the bank to reopen your small business. Then you can calculate how much money you will need to reopen. This calculation can be broken out into smaller line items (your areas of focus) to show how much you will need to fund each area to fully open. If these numbers aren’t matching up, that’s okay. From here, you can determine where you could potentially make cuts or changes or find funding that will work for your business. You can also check out some of our ways for small businesses to save money.
Some questions about finance you can ask yourself to guide this process
- Do I expect the cost of any of my line items to change due to lockdown mandates?
- How will I document my expenses going forward if I need to report my finances to a lender?
- What is my maximum business capacity to operate safely?
- If I decide to change my business model, what kind of revenue changes can I expect upon my reopening?
- Are there any processes around CNP payments and virtual terminals I might change?
Supply chain: Here you will want to provide details on how much supply you’ll need for your reopening, any new supplies you might need, and the logistics of getting those items. Because many of your vendors may have also needed to halt production, you’ll want to have a backup plan in case you can’t get all of the supplies you need in time for your reopening.
Some questions about supply chain you can ask yourself before you reopen your small business:
- Am I going to change any vendors for my supplies when I reopen?
- What is the best alternative if I can’t get this item?
- How far in advance will I contact my vendors for orders of my supplies?
- Are there any new logistics in getting supplies that I should take into consideration?
Physical location: Here you will want to list what physical locations you plan to operate. If you are a multi-location business, you will need to develop a reopening plan specifically for each of your locations based on business capacity, as different locales have different rules when it comes to lifting lockdown restrictions.
Some questions about your physical locations you can ask yourself to guide this process:
- Do I need to make any changes to the physical location, business capacity, or the way my location is set up to ensure I reopen my small business safely?
- Are there any improvements I want to make to my physical location to adapt to a new procedure or business model?
- What signs or notices do I need to post in front of my location?
Shipping and logistics: Here you will document any new procedures for shipping and logistics that you may need to accommodate as you reopen. This is particularly important if you’re making changes to your business that will rely more heavily on shipping, curbside pickup, or delivery to reach your customers in new ways when you reopen.
Some questions about shipping and logistics you can ask yourself to guide this process:
- Does reopening depend on enabling a new way to reach customers?
- What are the new rules for shipping and logistics in my geographic region?
- What change in revenue can I expect?
- Are there new customer expectations I should set around the way we do shipping and logistics?
Workforce: Here you should document a plan for rehiring, ending furloughs, or bringing remote workers back to a physical location. Conversely, if the way you’re changing your business model doesn’t require a physical location, you’ll need to develop a plan for employees to work remotely and understand how to start an online store. When you create a plan around your workforce, take into consideration recommendations from the UK Government, Federation of Small Businesses, and laws in your local council.
Some questions about workforce you can ask yourself to guide this process:
- What equipment (e.g., masks, physical barriers, gloves, thermometers) do I need to provide to reopen my small business safely?
- What procedures and reopening guidelines (e.g., temperature taking, hand washing) will I have in place to make sure employees are safe?
- What do my employees say they need to feel safe at work?
- If my employee doesn’t want to come back to work, or can’t due to illness, what will my policy be?
Regulatory changes: During the COVID-19 outbreak, many industries saw major regulatory changes that affect business capacity and the way businesses operate. You’ll want to take stock of these and build plans around new regulations in your industry or industries adjacent to your business.
Some questions about reopening guidelines you can ask yourself to guide this process:
- How will I stay on top of changing regulations in my industry?
- Am I poised to pivot due to regulatory changes if I have to?
- What revenue impact can I expect because of new regulations?
Customers: When it comes to your customers, you’ll need to think about their safety, managing their expectations, and communication. There are likely regulations from your local council that you’ll need to follow when it comes to maintaining social distancing and requiring face coverings that you should take into account when planning to reopen.
You should also keep in mind best practices and what makes sense for you to reopen your small business beyond what is required. Then you can make a communication plan to tell customers what is required of them (e.g., don’t bring your own bags, you must wear a face covering). You can also communicate any changes in your business model such as new product offerings, business capacity, or new ways customers can engage with you.
Some questions about customers you can ask yourself to guide this process:
- What new reopening guidelines do I need to put in place to ensure customer and employee safety?
- Are there new ways my customers can engage with my business under new regulations?
- Do my customers have new needs that I can help them with?
4. Assemble a team to help you manage your reopening.
You don’t have to reopen your small business alone. Assemble team members to manage each area of focus and hold them accountable for carrying out the plan successfully. To help with coordination, you can schedule virtual meetings regularly to discuss progress and readiness to reopen your doors.
As you plan to reopen your small business safely, anticipate that some things will change as lockdown orders are lifted and government bodies learn more. The best you can do is pivot as you learn more and keep your business and your team agile.