We are being asked a lot how Covid-19 is affecting our business. What all of this means for our little Company of One, what we are doing with all our “extra time” and are we worried about what the future holds?
In all honesty, this has been a time of great change for a lot of our customers, but not really for us. We are continuing to provide services for small and medium businesses, at about the same rate as we were before, albeit with a slightly different mix and working on different activities for clients than we might normally do. We believe that our ability to “weather the storm” as it were is because we have chosen to have a value-based business. We will continue to have a business when this is all over, even if it looks slightly different, and there is something to be learned from that approach for everyone.
A values-based business allows you to develop deeper relationships with your clients and forge stronger bonds than if you simply provide a service for fee. By leading with your values, you present a more authentic self in business and deliver far greater value to your clients than simply the sum of hours. In times of crisis, this particularly comes to the forefront as business owners make hard decisions across the board, especially when it comes to non-essential services.
Your business values are defined by the way you approach your work, your clients and the market. Your values might be around relationships, giving back, creativity, passion or authenticity, they could even be in areas like creating wealth, education or efficiency. In our business, our values are demonstrated through the relationships we build with our clients, the honesty and integrity in our services or advice, and the creativity that we bring to the table. Each of these values is being tested right now, but these are also the qualities that are allowing us to help our existing clients in new ways, or help new clients with their changing or evolving needs during this time.
We are finding that now is a key time for us to deliver on our values and strengthen our relationships or provide better advice and education for our clients – whether they are working with us currently or not – and ensure that as soon as business picks up again, we are top of the list of people deemed necessary to work with. That’s a coveted position and one that we are grateful to fill.
All of our business values are being called into question during this time. You as a business or business owner are being asked to be more innovative, more involved, more reactive and more compassionate than ever before – but by leading with your values, you can be sure that at the end of this crisis you will still have a business to go home to.
We really feel for our customers who have had to close their physical presence and are absolutely inspired by those clients who are doing interesting and innovative things to continue to serve their community. Some clients are seeing this as a huge period of growth, of changing their business model and moving into a new way of working – that’s an innovative way of meeting the needs of the market as they change, and it’s amazing to see how many businesses are thriving during this time, although probably not in ways they would have considered operating previously.
Others are using this as a time to make serious change in the way they deliver value for their customers, with greater rates of communication and removing the veil from the work they do to serve the customers in the best way they can. Workshops, education, private training and free information or sessions are all ways that we are seeing businesses continue to communicate and serve their clients without being restricted by location or physical presence.
The values that we hold have helped us to work with our customers in new and interesting ways, even as their business changes. Not only are we transparent and open about the process behind design and marketing, but we enable and educate our clients to continue their activities as best they can, even if we aren’t part of it. By having that open and honest dialogue, particularly with things like social media and content creation, we create relationships with our clients that goes beyond simply providing a service, and instead we are seen as a key business partner, a trusted advisor during this time, and as someone with more value than simply the service they provide – and we could not be more proud to hold that status.
If that sounds like someone you want to work with, we want to hear from you. Just shoot us an email on emma@emdesigns.com.au and let’s start a conversation that’s about more than dollars or hours. We look forward to hearing from you.
