The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is having a major impact on businesses across the country. What can you, as a small business owner, do to weather the coronavirus crisis and come out the other side stronger than ever?

1. Reduce Expenses to a Minimum

When your business severely declines or is halted completely, you can’t maintain your spending at pre-downturn levels. When revenues deteriorate, you need to slash expenditures to the bare minimum it takes to keep your business running. That means cutting your business hours, laying off staff, deferring any planned capital expenses, and even looking for ways to suspend or reschedule rent and other ongoing expenses. The goal is survival, by whatever means necessary.

2. Focus on Essential Products and Services

As you cut back on expenses, you won’t be able to offer the full suite of products or services that you do in normal times. This is actually an opportunity to weed out unprofitable or time- and expense-consuming items from your portfolio. Pare down your offerings to those the majority of your customers need and that are the most profitable for you.

3. Move Online

If your customers can’t come to you, you need to go to them. That means establishing or beefing up your business’ online presence. Make sure your website is up-to-date, mobile friendly, and ready to handle increased online orders. Put as much of your business online as possible; consider adding online instruction, consulting, or other related services. And use social media to both promote your business and keep in touch with your local customers.

4. Look for New Opportunities

It may seem counter-intuitive, but this may actually be a good time to grow your business. Think about products or services you could be offering that might appeal to home-bound, crisis-afflicted customers. Restaurants, for example can expand into home delivery or ready-to-heat meals. Service providers might offer additional services that home-bound consumers can no longer do themselves.

Any new products and services could be temporary during the crisis or a way for you to expand your customer base on an ongoing basis. If you get creative and focus on your customers’ needs, your business could end up bigger than ever post-crisis.

5. Be Ready to Ramp Up When It’s Over

However you make it through the coronavirus crisis, you need to be ready to get back on your feet as soon as the restrictions are over and the economy starts to recover. Have finances, resources, and staff lined up for when you reopen the doors and return to normal business hours and operations. Don’t let your surviving competitors get the jump on you; you want to be back on day one with grand reopening sales and specials. Plan ahead and have everything ready to go when the time comes – be the market leader that you know you can be.