Prepare Your Business for Possible COVID-19 Impact

While the risk in Iowa remains relatively low and steady, take time now to firm up your business continuity plans and put needed pieces in motion. Assuming you have already taken the steps outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), here are some additional, timely tips:

Operations

• Review your supply chain and analyze potential impact and alternatives for supplies.
• Review finances, work on contingencies of how to manage finances should business begin to slow, talk with your banker about options that you can tap into should the need arise.
• Talk with your business insurance provider as well.
• If business does slow, document your losses. If the COVID-19 situation escalates, disaster declarations could be made that trigger the availability of federal economic injury assistance for small businesses. https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/Information/Index

Facilities

• Frequent and deeper cleaning of the office and home. Most Clorox, Lysol and Purell products should fit the bill. A full list of product that can be used during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is here: https://www.americanchemistry.com/Novel-Coronavirus-Fighting-Products-List.pdf

People

• Keep communicating with your customers, and stay active on social media. Let your customers know that you are open for business, or remind them how you can help. Let them know what you are doing to protect their health as well.
• Keep communicating with your team as well. They need your leadership and certainty.
• Finalize work strategies and protocols should you need folks to work from home, or make changes to staffing. There are a number of great tools out there that can maximize productivity, and cloud storage like GoogleDrive, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive are increasingly cost effective.
• If you are in retail or service or another public facing business, what can you do to protect both your customer base and your employees? Leverage technology and easy pick-up or delivery, for example.
• How will you handle travel?
• For meetings with large groups, consider moving online. You can still get the work done, and it may actually save you time. Zoom, GoToMeetings, Microsoft Teams are all great tools for this.

Shop Local

• Now, more than ever, small businesses need your support. Our online directory is a great place to start.
• If you are doing business with a local provider and your needs have changed, do your best to postpone the work and not cancel.

We realize that the uptick in cancellations may feel alarming. Remember that these are all strategies to stop the spread.

Stay informed and look for information from reliable and trusted sources, including:

• World Health Organization: who.int
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): cdc.gov
• Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH): idph.iowa.gov
• Polk County Health Department: polkcountyiowa.gov/health
• Greater Des Moines Partnership: dsmpartnership.com

You can count on The Partnership to continue to share accurate and fact-based updates as well. See more on Covid-19 prevention strategies.

Find these tips useful? Find more business tools and information by visiting the Business Resources page.