The front line is shifting from essential services to small business. Are you ready to be an ambassador for the Game-On marketplace?
It’s been 7 weeks since Canadians were advised to practice social distancing. For the most part, only essential services have been running and often at reduced hours or modified delivery. In recent days, the restrictions have been relaxed slightly as certain seasonal businesses have been allowed to open and more will return to normal operations this weekend.
The best news for many small businesses is that retail stores with street entrances will be allowed to re-open for curbside pick-up beginning Monday, May 11th. This is effectively the start of the Game-On marketscape for business in Ontario, and your chance to be a Game-On Ambassador within your industry.
Business Interruptus
As a small business owner, this may have been the news you were waiting to hear – but after being fairly idle for so long, it can be difficult to get back into the groove. Will you be able to bring back staff? Will the overhead costs of re-opening be recovered by whatever marginal business you can attract with curbside pick-up? Will your revenues fall short of what you might be able to collect from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)? Is there any point to opening right now?
These troubling questions will make it tough to find your entrepreneurial spark again, especially after falling so far out of your usual routine. You may find yourself lacking the drive that made you so successful before the COVID-19 pandemic brought business to a crashing halt. The future of our economy is very uncertain and buyer behaviours are sure to change. It can all be a bit overwhelming for the independent business owner.
Lead the Charge
Think of our traditional Canadian spring pastime of road hockey and that moment when someone yells “CAR!” – everyone else stops in place, frozen in time while a driver cruises by slowly. Once it is safe to play again, the action restarts when the players hear “GAME ON!” Our government leaders have given the okay to resume business and soon the front line will be shifting from hospitals and healthcare facilities to curbsides and store fronts.
Entrepreneurs can lead the way out of social distancing and into a reconnected and reactivated economy. Open your doors with a welcoming call. Show your customers that you are happy to see them again and make them comfortable in doing business with you. Smile – even if you are wearing a mask, they will be able to tell – and set an example of hope, normalcy and community for others.
The Canadian Way
We have weathered this pandemic together as a nation, followed the advice of our trusted experts and stayed calm and resolute in the face of the unknown. They asked us to stay home and our curve was kept in check while other countries suffered much higher numbers of COVID-19 deaths. To reignite our economy and save our businesses, we will have to apply that same resolve to welcoming the Game-On marketscape and doing our best to get back to normal.
Be the one to call it out in your neighbourhood and stand up as a Game-On Ambassador.
Is Your Business
Pandemic-proof?
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