Will I be let go?

Always assume a big YES. Let’s look at where the world is going with this Covid19 pandemic in the next 6 to 12 months.

Cities that eased the lockdowns when the number of patients decreased but only to reinstate it back with harsher punishments and more restrictions of what can or cannot be done. Why?

Human.

We are creatures of habits and it is not easy to just change the routines overnight but discipline may just do that. But not everyone is as disciplined enough to see the bigger needs of the society to do social distancing and even put on a mask and to avoid crowded places.

Businesses that were shut down earlier were all ready to go back to the norm to start selling to recover all those months of losses from rental, ingredients spoilage, salaries to employees, etc.

But when the next lockdowns happened, anyone who runs a business will need to look at what to cut to reduce the financial bleeding, and typically it is to continue to furlough employees and maybe even cut them out totally. This is usually what be in the minds of many when pushed to a corner.

So if you are one of those employees, what should you do? Wait for it to happen while you are stuck at home?

• Identify what you are good at that others will be willing to pay for it. Knitting really cool looking hats? Design websites? Give tuitions? Yoga?
• Research on what is being offered in the market? How much are they charged? Who is the most popular provider and why?
• Pricing — Benchmark and price yourself lower than average while you figure things out and yet still able to bring in some income.
• Branding — Let others know what you do and the differentiation between you and the nearest competitors.
• Repeat — Keep refining your offering in terms of better pricing, design, customer service, and roll out a range of services/products to catch the same group of customers. For example, if your customers are housewives with young kids and pets, they may just be keen to buy your knitted mask or gloves for them too.

Target the same group of customers to build loyalty and also to market other products to them that they may just find it convenient to buy from you too. This will save you a lot of effort than to sell different products to different people and earning lesser profit after deducting off the cost of acquisitions.

Don’t give up any hope, just keep pushing and pushing so that you are constantly on the move.