A plan for your high street
Everyone trading on the high street needs to protect and adapt their business due to COVID-19.
This is a complex challenge with hundreds of individual ideas that each local business could be doing to achieve goals on the Coronavirus-era high street.
Since early March, we’ve been studying this from all sides with input from dozens of business owners and industry experts; evaluating new ideas and focusing our business support on the following 6 goals.
1. Reducing your costs
2. Selling through new channels
3. Marketing during lockdown
4. Collaborating as a high street
5. Preparing for the future
6. Funding your business
In this newsletter below, there are links to read more about each of these goals.
The Daily Ideas we share on social media all relate to these goals. On our 12-week COVID-19 business support programme, we focus on each goal in turn to consider everything and deliver the most effective plan possible together.
The drivers of success on the high street have never changed so much nor so fast but, for those able to move quickly, there is opportunity in this crisis.
Alex Schlagman,
Founding Partner, SaveTheHighStreet.org
Reducing your costs
All high street businesses should re-examine all direct and indirect costs from rent to suppliers, transactions, salaries and much more.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT REDUCING YOUR COSTS
Selling through new channels
From e-commerce websites, marketplaces, social commerce and other remote points of sale to local delivery, click & collect, live virtual events and other fulfilment methods.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT SELLING THROUGH NEW CHANNELS
Marketing during lockdown
Engaging your existing and potential customers is important in this period, regardless of whether you are open as normal, limited to serving your customers remotely, or closed for the duration of the lockdown.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT MARKETING DURING LOCKDOWN
Collaborating as a high street
During this time of national crisis, high streets need to reaffirm their role at the heart of local communities, and many local high streets are already rising to the challenge.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT COLLABORATING AS A HIGH STREET
Preparing for the future
Consumers are experiencing new ways of living, shopping and socialising on a much broader scale than ever before. Their attitudes, behaviours and preferences will change forever and local business should be planning now for the phased lifting of social distancing restrictions.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
Funding your business
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is one of many options for financing your business. All businesses should be aware of their potential sources of cash across fixed assets, inventory, payment terms, grants, debt and equity.
This post was originally shared as a newsletter to our www.savethehighstreet.org mailing list.
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