The 2020 pandemic caused a major ripple effect across all industries and altered the landscape of these industries as we know it. Today, we may be coming out from the other side but we’re still feeling the effects of 2020. Between supply chain issues, labor shortages, and inflation maintaining a small business through all of this has been anything but easy. While there were some good times and some bad times, we were able to learn a lot and use those learnings to help others and adjust our business plan accordingly.
Here are 4 things we learned as a small business during the pandemic.
Trying New Ideas
You know all of those cool ideas you have when the market is running smooth and business is booming but you don’t have time to really implement and execute them? Yeah, we had a lot of those. But we never had the time or the resources to really test and try them out. Fortunately, the pandemic gave us a lot of time which allowed us to redistribute our resources to effectively implement and execute those ideas.
As a small business we knew influencer marketing was going to be big but we didn’t really have the time, resources, or money to put towards influencer marketing efforts. With wholesale coming to a near stop, it gave us a unique opportunity to test out influencer marketing. We learned a lot, had some fun, and got a chance to share our product with people who would otherwise never know about Kinn Kleanbowl. Today, we have a better understanding of how influencer marketing can work for us and we can use those findings to make future influencer marketing efforts that much better.
Testing New Markets
Before 2020, most of our business was in wholesale. While Kinn Kleanbowl is a great product in and outside of pet care facilities, we never had the time or the energy to really connect with individual pet parents. But when the pandemic shut down travel and pet care facilities weren’t really hosting pet clients and guests, we had no choice but to redirect our efforts.
During the pandemic, we were able to really sit down and hash out who our target market pet parent is, what is the best way to reach them, and what are their biggest obstacles when it comes to feeding and watering their pets. This downtime not only helped us test out a new market, individual pet parents, but also allowed us to gain a better understanding of our pet care facility clients.
Sticking to The Plan
It wasn’t easy and at times it felt like the bad would never end but we continued to stick to the plan. And what was our plan? To create stronger bonds between people and pets through revolutionary products designed to improve the quality of life for people, pets, and the planet.
We knew that we had to keep going despite everything around us telling us to stop. Sticking to the plan can be difficult and it may feel futile but maintaining our sense of purpose and main mission allowed us to stay focused without losing momentum. As the world begins to reopen we are now able to keep moving and assisting our pet care facility clients, as well as individual pet parents, without skipping a beat.
Utilizing Our Resources
You know what’s great about friends? They’re there for you during the good times and the bad times. When times got extra tough, we reached out to our resources and friends to find out how we could be of assistance to them. We used this opportunity to discover new ways we could collaborate together and try to make times easier for everyone.
When you’re struggling as a business, remember that it’s better to swallow your pride and ask for help instead of drowning. Today, we have an even stronger relationship with our friends and resources because we were able to work together to find solutions.
