How businesses are adapting to Covid regulations

28th November 2020

Increasing regulations are shaping the way we work and many companies are making adaptations to their business model to stay afloat. Here are some effective ways businesses can change the way they work to stay competitive in the current climate.

Going Online:

Some more digitally minded businesses will be no stranger to working fully online, but this can be a challenge for smaller outlets that have not yet established their digital footprint. Government restrictions have introduced the need to work online, a new adaptation that is essential for businesses to make if they wish to operate through the various stages of lockdown.

One of the main tools that businesses are using for internal communication is Microsoft Teams. Teams is an easy-to-use platform that provides a messaging system between the whole company and a platform for video calls and meetings. This ease of communication allows for businesses to stay in touch with workers, stakeholders and clients, an essential quality for success.

Mobile Catering Businesses:

In the catering industry, businesses have been hit hard by the different restrictions imposed on allowing customers into their premises at various points of the pandemic. This has led many businesses whether big or small, such as Pizza Pazza, to introduce home delivery, takeaway, and mobile catering services.

An increase in the number of mobile food services has helped some catering businesses to stay afloat, operating from a mobile catering vehicle fitted with a portable generator to power the cooking equipment. These portable caterers have survived by operating in areas within or near the ones where they live and work, serving both the public and emergency service workers.

This adaptation has allowed a once stationary catering industry to take their business directly to the customer, so long as they comply with social distancing regulations and do not operate in a way that encourages people to gather together.

Investing in Digital:

The pandemic has led to a significant decrease to the number of products bought in-store. Shops and non-essential businesses have been forced to close for several months, and this has led to an upwards trend of consumers spending their money online.

Businesses that are up to date with their online markets have invested more into their web-based shops to handle the increased demand. The businesses that are seeing the most benefit from the increased demand are those who invest in online marketing, allowing them to be found more easily by their customers.

One example of this is Amazon, who since the pandemic began have seen their stock price rise by almost double between the months of March and June.

If harnessed correctly, this surge of demand, matched with effective online marketing, has helped to see some businesses increase their revenue in recent months, despite the downward trend of consumers buying from physical stores.