Many businesses across the world have been affected by the whole coronavirus situation, most especially smaller businesses. Many of them tried to cope, like reducing costs to an extreme and limiting operation hours. Some businesses were lucky to survive, some had to close. With that being said, as businesses are slowly allowed to operate once again, it’s time to figure out how to safely reopen during these trying times.
Know Your Local Rules
Before you reopen, figure out what rules your local authorities have imposed. Is there a limit to the number of customers allowed inside the establishment? Do you need to check their temperatures as they enter? Research everything and ask your local authorities to avoid getting into trouble.
Provide Protective Equipment for Your Employees
Since your employees will be facing different people every day, it’s important that you keep them protected from getting the coronavirus. Your business can’t run if your employees aren’t healthy, so it’s only necessary that you provide them with protective equipment. It’s important that you provide them with at least the basic necessities like masks and sanitizers. If you have a bit more cash to spare, buy other kinds of PPE, too.
Reorganize Your Store
The most likely scenario is that you will need to follow social distancing rules and that isn’t possible if all your shelves are too close to each other. This means you may have to reorganize your store and pull out some products to free up floor space. Identify what products you would consider vital and keep those displayed. Other products that don’t sell as well should be kept to an offsite location.
Sanitize
Now you’ve got everything prepared. The last step is to sanitize your store. It is a bit hard as we don’t really know what’s 100% effective and what’s not, but you can do the bare minimum by constantly sanitizing your shelves, counters, and leaving a sanitizer by the door so your customers can also do their part. Be thorough with your sanitation and don’t take risks.
I know we all miss the days where everything was normal and we could walk freely and eat wherever we wanted without fearing for our lives, but all these steps are necessary to make sure we, and people around us, are safe. It’s our duty as citizens of our country to do our part and abide local rules.