Are You Feeling the Effects of the Covid-19 Blues?

Covid-19 – whether we like it or not – is here for at least the next 12 months. The World Health Organisation do not think a vaccine will be available until at least the middle of next year.

What does that mean to us in good-old New Zealand? Well, unfortunately it’s more of the same; that is, closed borders, yo-yoing between levels 1 through 3, more government rhetoric, and worrying about whether we are going to have any kind of decent Christmas. And to make matters worse, it’s election season.

As business owners we must be prepared for whatever Covid-19 is going to throw at us.

 How do we do that?

1. Being Agile. We need to be efficient and able to act quickly.
2. Being prepared. We need to have plans in place to allow us to rapidly ramp-up to take advantage of a positive situation or to ramp-down if we go into another lock-down.

What are the chances of another lock-down?

1. We do not yet know where the last outbreak came from.
2. Our border security is a work in progress – we are still learning from our many mistakes. Resource has been put into our two biggest ports, Tauranga and Auckland, but what about our other ports such as Lyttleton, Marsden Point, Napier, Otago and Wellington?

Being Agile during the current crisis is about building business and financial resilience to firstly survive and then move forward. Not all businesses are in the same predicament. Some didn’t make it through the first lockdown and others didn’t make it through the second lockdown. Where do you sit on the Covid-19 timelines?

If you fit into either of the first two categories in one or both of the above timelines, you are more than likely going to need some help in building an Agile Business Continuity Plan to boost both your own resilience as business owner and the resilience of your business itself to what lies ahead.  And remember: resilience includes health and wellbeing.

That is where we can help you.  Into the Blue NZ Limited in association with Business Support Studio Limited have put together both a Covid-19 Business Advisory Support Service, which is 100% government funded up to a maximum of $5,000 (subject to availability) and a 50% government co-funded service up to a maximum of $5,000 for the first 6 months.  To make life even easier you can take advantage of both Services i.e. up to $10,000 in government funding.  For more information try this link https://intotheblue.co.nz/regional-business-partnership/  

Time for a New Business Model?

Is your business model working in this Covid-19 environment?  For a lot of businesses, the chances are, NO, it is not working.

The biggest three reasons for this are:

1. A lot of businesses are still struggling to recover from the “lockdown” closure where they lost the equivalent of 2 months of cashflow between March and May.
2. A lot of businesses are worried about a second wave of Covid-19 and the associated “lockdown,” so are not prepared to make commitments as the perceived risk is too high. Oddly enough a lockdown is one of the perfect opportunities to think about what you could be doing differently and a telephone conversation or Zoom meeting with a Business Advisor should help you to come up with some viable options.
3. It is winter which is traditionally New Zealand’s off-season.

Running a Business Advisory Services business is no different.  I have had to update my service offerings, enhance my digital footprint, update the way I work and the way I charge clients so as to limit their commitments as much as is practically possible while still making a living. 

The grass roots of this work were completed during the previous lockdown.

The traditional Business Advisory model was to sign-up clients a year on monthly fee (which we called an investment) payable in advance.  If the client was lucky, the Business Advisor may have suggested 50% co-funding up to $5,000 from the Management Capability Voucher Fund.

The new business model is for Business Advisors:

• To be registered with the Regional Business Partner Network (RBPN) with multiple client services (the RBPN manage the Management Capability Voucher Fund).
• Obtain as much Government funding as possible from the RBPN, which currently includes:

• 100% Covid-19 Business Advisory funding up to $5,000 over a 6-month period.  This was originally capped at $2,000 over 3 months so for those that have already had $2,000 from the original offering there now the opportunity for a potential top-up.
• If a client wants to continue past the 100% funding, they can apply for 50% co-founding up to $5,000 over a 6-month period.  This was previously set at a 3-month period.
• All RBPN funding is paid directly to the Business Advisor.

• Complete all client paid work on an hourly rate, as required by the client, payable by invoice due the following month.

If Business Advisors are not talking about Government funding and paying for non-funded work at an hourly rate payable after completion of that month’s hours they are not “walking-the-talk.”

Additionally, the really good Business Advisors will have a “Support Office” who will complete some of your work for them, such as surveys, at a significantly lower hourly rate than the Business Advisor which will be passed directly onto you the client at nil margin to the Business Advisor.

Into the Blue NZ Limited in association with Business Support Studio Limited (BSS) have put together both a Covid-19 Business Advisory Support Service, which is 100% government funded up to a maximum of $5,000 and 50% government co-funded services up to a maximum of $5,000 over the first 6 months.  And, to make life even easier you can take advantage of both Services i.e. up to $10,000 of Government funding.

Into the Blue uses BSS predominately for digital enablement and enhancement including websites, surveys and branding.

As we endure the transition from Lockdown Level-3 to Level-2, a clearer picture is emerging of the longer term impact on the local New Zealand and wider global economies:

• Unemployment levels in New Zealand of 13%+
• Record numbers of families relying on “foodbanks”
• Global Recession

those are just some of the potential consequences, but they do not mean that your business will not be able to survive in the significantly changed market conditions New Zealand will be forced to face.  Get your marketing strategy right and you will be a survivor – you may even thrive!

Technology – and your company’s use of it –
will play a deciding role in who will come
out of this pandemic in good shape.

Post Lockdown – doing business will be very different
Sourcing needs online is the new go-to
DON’T MISS OUT 

If you want to succeed in the changed market conditions the minimum you are going to need is a professional-looking online presence. A great website does not have to cost a lot.  For approximately $2,000 + GST you can have a website like mine, www.intotheblue.co.nz and the great news is you can potentially use free Government funding to help finance it.

There is free government assistance available through the Regional Business Partner Network (RBPN) to provide Business Advisor assistance to help you to develop a marketing plan and strategy to take you through the Covid-19 crisis. Developing a Digital Marketing Strategy comes under the category of “Business Continuity” which is part of the fully funded Covid-19 support package up to a maximum of $2,000.

On top of that the RBPN provides 50% co-funding, which can be tacked onto the Covid-19 funding, up to a maximum of $5,000 over 3 months to help with Business Improvement.  Business Improvement includes business planning, marketing plans and marketing strategies including potential updates of existing websites or creating new websites.

I have teamed up with Business Support Studio Limited – a very approachable, helpful and knowledgeable outfit – who created my website  www.intotheblue.co.nz. The team at Business Support Studio will absolutely ensure that you receive the best service possible when it comes to your marketing plan and strategy.

For more information on how we can help you with both your marketing and obtaining government funding please call me today

What makes your business stand out from the crowd?

Identify your competitive edge

Make your business stand out from the crowd online

Once you have identified it, the next step is to establish a marketing strategy to deliver your business’ point of difference to the market.  Before you invest any money you need to develop your sales and marketing strategy and establish exactly what you want to achieve to get more people to your door or alternatively sell products online.  But how do you go about this?

How do you establish your Point of Difference?