Tips on Reopening Physical Businesses for Post-COVID-19

A lot of businesses in the United States have closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The most impacted among them are the ones who rent for a physical store. 

Find out how to bounce back from the lockdown with these simple post-outbreak business reopening tips.

1.  Research and learn the new government guidelines

The first step to reopening your physical business is to know what guidelines and regulations are set in place by the government. You also need to stay updated for changes in policies to avoid closures and health security hazards.

Here are several guideline resources you should follow:

• Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s(CDC’s) guidance for businesses and workplaces.
• CDC’s guidelines for reopening small businesses.
• POTUS’ and CDC’s guidelines for Opening Up America Again.
• The White House’s official COVID-19 website for regulations both businesses and the general public.
• Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) for employer-employee relations.
• For your local state guidelines visit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce State-by-State Business Reopening Guidance.
• You can also choose to follow your state’s or local politician’s official social media for more real-time updates.

2.  Plan on reinventing the business

With the social distancing guidance in place, it would be best to remodel your business’ interior that would prevent the cross-contamination of your employees to customers. You can plan to set up acetate sheets on counters or put large plastic counter shields.

If your business is in the food sector, you can plan to impose distancing rules by allowing fewer people to sit on tables. And the tables are also distanced from other customer’s tables.

Alcohol-based sanitizers are costly and easily consumed. Why not plan to provide a water jug with soap on the entrance to your establishment so customers can clean their hands? While you’re at it, provide a footbath with bleach as well.

To prevent sick people from entering the shop, plan to have an employee stand at the door with a thermal gun for a temperature check. And don’t forget, it can be your responsibility to provide your employees with protective equipment as well as check their well-being regularly.

3.  Assess and predict events of the reopening

With checkpoints in place, it might take a longer time for transportations to arrive with supplies. Some suppliers might cut off their services due to the lack of production and manpower.

What can you do? Try to assess if your business’ supply chain can continue uninterrupted by discussing it with your supplier. The same would go for your employees.

There will be a chance that they’ll come late when reporting for work or delivering goods. You must anticipate these situations so you can formulate backup plans and keep your stress at a minimum.

4.  Enhance communication among employees and customers

There’s a high chance there would be sudden changes to business reopening guidelines. It’s better to be fully prepared. Now would be the perfect time to encourage engagement from your customers to your store.

You can do this by giving more attention to your business’ social media by regularly updating changes in operations in its newsfeed. Encourage engagement within your workforce as well.

Stay in touch with your employees. Instruct them to keep their communication lines opened and their eyes peeled for new updates from you.

5.  Allow others to work remotely

If you have employees who aren’t necessarily needed at the physical store, instruct them to work from home. Better yet, only call them to report when absolutely needed. Here are examples of employees you can instruct to work remotely.

• Inventory Managers.
• Supply Officers.
• Social Media and Marketing Managers.

If you desire it to be, you can do these tasks yourself if you’re not busy.

Remember to research federal, state, and local guidelines first before you’ll decide to reopen your business. If your solopreneur gut tells you it’s safe to return to operations, carefully plan your next moves for a smooth-sailing post-outbreak business.