These 3 Questions Will Help Define The Future Of Your Business After The Pandemic

A lot of entrepreneurs have been pondering over some questions in the course of the corona-virus lockdown. Many of such questions could be moments that would define the future of many entrepreneurs’ businesses. The answers provided to these questions in this post are born out of decades of experience in handling trying times and recessions.

The questions and their answers include the following;

Q #1: Is it Wise to Operate Fully Remote?

While some businesses have been operating flexible work schedules, the covid-19 lockdown was the push to work remotely for most businesses and companies. Now that social distancing is going away, you may be wondering if you and your employees should continue working remotely.

Well, the honest answer to this question lies in your hand. How has it been for your company working remotely these past months? If you are realizing certain benefits (e.g. huge savings on overhead) that substantially outweigh what you gain from working in the office, then you should think twice about returning to the office.

Q #2: What is the Best Way to Prepare for Future Emergencies?

You were probably taken unaware by the sudden interruption caused by the outbreak of the pandemic, resulting in some challenges. The reason is that you had no emergency preparedness plan all along. This is not the time to muse over what has been done, but to learn from it so that you are better prepared in the future.

While an emergency plan does not mean everything will be 100 percent okay in times of emergency, it does help. Such plan would usually detail things like communication procedures and other action steps in moments of emergency. This helps you to be better prepared to weather the storm in significant ways.

So, your plan should feature the following regardless of the type or nature of the emergency;

• Ways to communicate with your employees
• The person or those to contact. This could be insurance agents, vendors, managers, etc.
• An alternative arrangement for work continuity – e.g. employees working remotely or outsourcing tasks to independent contractors

Q #3: Should Employees Get PTO (Paid Time Off)?

Also, during the heat of the pandemic, some entrepreneurs were wondering if they should give paid time off to their employees. There was emergency legislation to offer paid family leave and sick leave to employees. However, it’s only a temporal arrangement that would dissipate with the pandemic.

But then, it won’t be a bad idea to adopt a PTO policy in your company. This will enable employees to get sick leave or attend to other pressing personal matters without worrying about funds.

These questions are important and shouldn’t be treated with levity.

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! Inspires entrepreneurs to build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams