COVID-19 Lockdown: How Business Owners In India Can Prepare Themselves Businesses should use this time to work on the development of products and business solutions along with training employees

Currently, every nation in this world is fighting against COVID-19 caused by the deadly coronavirus. Infected cases have been increasing every day around the world and have severely affected India too.

By now, we have seen people losing their life but I personally feel we can stop further spreading of the virus by just maintaining basic hygiene, taking precautions and acting as responsible citizens. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also asked all the Indians not to panic but to take precautions.

Along with health issues, COVID-19 has equally affected the economy of the country. All business sectors have been severely affected, be it the travel industry, the food industry, the entertainment industry, the service industry or retail businesses, among others.

The sudden and unexpected economic slowdown has shattered many small and medium enterprises which may slowly move out of business as they cannot pull for long due to limited cash flow as we all know it will take time to stabilize the economy. Till then it is advisable to use this time to work on the development of products and business solutions along with training employees.

Business owners have to streamline their processes and prepare themselves for the next phase. The best thing is to focus on research and an improved strategy.

• First, businesses can analyze their sales revenue for the past months. Then understand what product and service will be more in demand post the lockdown.
• A detailed comparison of the product line and features with their competitors can help in better market placement.
• Along with that, it is the perfect time to work on any redevelopment on their products, solution and services to serve consumers better.
• A digitalized setup for their business will help them to ease their entire business management remotely to overcome such situations.
• Retailers from any sector can come up with new sales strategy and bundle offerings which will surely help them to capture the market again and stabilize their revenue thus contributing to the country's economy.
• As per the current situation, every business needs to understand its product stock required to satisfy customers' requirements without much hassle.
• Also this situation demands more on isolation and social distancing and so business owners can work on remote workflow and operation set up for their employees, where such condition would never be a hurdle for your business continuation.
• Properly train and equip employees with certifications and tools that can help the business to grow.

• A constant communication through call, message and email with clients and consumers on the awareness front will help to strengthen the business relationship.
• Cross functioning of companies would be the best strategy to focus on since mergers really works best in any market crisis.

Additionally, COVID-19 spreads due to human contact and one thing that connects us most of the time is cash transactions. India has around INR 25,000 crore of cash circulation. How sure are we, the money which you have received from someone has not been infected? Hence now it's time to go digital and start paying through mobile wallets, apps or any bank application to the vendor partners.

Today the digital form of payment cannot be a second option, it has to be to our first option. This use of digital payment needs to be practiced in tier I, tier II and tier III cities as well and not just only metro cities. I would also like to add that if we as an individual do our bit and act responsible, we can jointly curb this pandemic but till then be safe and healthy.