How successful black entrepreneurs are managing during COVID-19
COVID-19 has significantly affected the global economy, and entrepreneurs have to face the new reality. The pandemic is not only slowing down the progress on the business front but also leading certain businesses and entire industries to a standstill. It is currently affecting billions of people around the world, and black entrepreneurs are not an exemption.
Black businesses are hit hard by this virus, but owners are fighting to stay afloat. Following inequity that has existed for a decade now, withstanding the struggle is not easy due to economic uncertainty. Besides, being a business owner of colour and the most at-risk populations can be overwhelming.
However, as an entrepreneur, one has to tackle these uncertainties and face challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a tricky situation, but it’s not the time to give up.
Practices entrepreneurs are using to cope with COVID-19
Here are some of how entrepreneurs are coping and coming out stronger during this unpalatable period:
- Preserving and getting communication right
Even though employers and business owners are working hard to keep their workforce informed, confusion and disinformation have been spreading along with the virus. Nonetheless, they are doing their level best to ensure communication is efficiently and effectively maintained.
It is crucial to stay open and available to customers, investors, and other stakeholders to keep the business up and running. Subsequently, entrepreneurs are doing all they can to maintain their association with the business including being transparent with potential customers.
We all in this together and business stakeholders like consumers will surely understand as long as you stay honest with them. After all, customers can emphasize with companies undergoing a crisis, when informed transparently.
Furthermore, it is proven that businesses with a well-tied communication network are slowly lifting from the crisis.
- Integrating concept and design adaptations
We cannot deny the fact that the world might change once the pandemic situation is over. This means COVID-19 will significantly impact the demands and needs of the consumer market. As a result, some businesses have realized and are working upon adaptations that might be required.
Innovation has always helped business owners to overcome challenges in the ever-evolving market conditions. Today, businesses are innovating design of the concepts and products to overcome the pandemic challenges.
COVID-19 has essentially changed the demand-supply dynamic forces of industries like ticketing, tourism, restaurants and so forth. Thus, the only way to deal with this is by carefully pivoting the business models.
- Handling funding and investment
A wise entrepreneur is following a sustainable business approach, especially during this pandemic. Funds and other monetary resources should be used deliberately in order to survive post COVID-19. So, business owners are trying to manage conserving resources like cash for a few months once things get back to normal. However, it will take one’s patience to raise investments to post this crisis.
- Evaluating the supply chain
Entrepreneurs with a clear understanding of their supply chain can easily expose any potential vulnerability. This implies that they began with the most critical products and then looked beyond 1st and 2nd-tier suppliers, all the way to raw materials.
For example, entrepreneurs who are well aware of their supply chain, and knows their secondary supply is lucky. This is because in case a country they deal with becomes isolated, they can still get products to sell from their secondary supply.
- Keeping employees or team engaged
Successful entrepreneurs are keeping their team up-to-date with every development. It is the role of the promoter to engage and stay connected with team members through video conferencing tools like Google hangouts and zoom. Maintaining high spirits within the team and understanding the general mood within your remote workforce is vital, especially during COVID-19.
Apart from these strategies, there are so many other ways in which entrepreneurs are facing all these challenges.
You can also learn from these 6 successful black entrepreneurs who shared how they are managing during these hard times.
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We don’t know what to expect in the next few weeks and months, but these incredible and brilliant minds will surely survive. They are consistent, diligent, and disciplined. These behaviours coupled with their determination to power through this crisis will continue making them successful.
Although COVID-19 has given entrepreneurs all the reasons to give up, they are doing all they can to survive by all means possible. A wealth of evidence from these successful black business owners can ascertain to that.
This pandemic doesn’t have to mean the end of your business because there are several ways to survive until things get back to normal. It’s a challenging phase for all entrepreneurs, but it’s possible to cope and manage the situation at hand provided the right strategies are put in place.