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How to grow your small business despite lockdown restrictions


Johannesburg, 20 May 2020

Businesses, both large and small, are all feeling the effects of lockdown restrictions. Whether your business is currently unable to run normally, or at all, aim to use this forced 'pause in pace’ to reflect, adapt and find new ways to grow your company and sell your products or services.

1. Register a domain and build a company Web site... or update your current site

A company Web site is an absolute must in this digital age. Yet, 40% of small businesses don’t have one. On 702 Radio’s #TheMoneyShow, successful entrepreneur and businessman Pavlo Phitidis expresses that he has been urging businesses to digitise for a couple of years now, because of the value it can add. Being too busy, not having the funds, or perhaps not realising its true value, could be behind this high statistic, but it doesn’t need to stay this way. You can have your own business’s domain name, and build a professional Web site quickly and easily for under R100 a month with Domains.co.za.

Domains.co.za’s Site Builder packages include a free domain name* and free Web site hosting.

If you do have a Web site, now is the time to look at it as if for the first time... Take time to update your content and relook at how you are presenting your business. Remember, your Web site is your 24/7 sales agent. It must be your hardest working employee.

Give it the tools it needs to succeed.

2. Make communication 'king’

Remote working has gone from a 'rainy-day solution’ to the new normal. Walking over to someone’s desk to ask a question or explain an instruction isn’t an option anymore. Therefore, proper collaboration software and project process flows are critical to assist with communication. Virtual meetings, chats and brainstorming may seem strange at first, but when they are applied cohesively, a lot of time and resources can be saved in the process.

Shop around and invest in the best software for your team’s unique requirements.

This is also a time to look at how employees conduct themselves over e-mail and to encourage the sending of proper, professional and clear business messages.

3. Engage on a business-to-business level

At Domains.co.za, our Email Hosting is the ideal solution to help you make the right connections while the rest of your business is still “in the making”. Now you can take the time to reach out to your business-to-business customers in person; even if you do not have a Web site yet, you can still send out professional-looking e-mails.

Open up opportunities that would otherwise not have been possible.

Zoom or Skype, allow conferencing and networking sessions across the country and the world; investigate using these tools in your business as a means to increase your business opportunities.

4. Start selling online

If you can sell any of your products online (eCommerce plugin) – do it! The government has opened the online sale and delivery of non-essential goods as well (except for alcohol and cigarettes, of course)

Companies are thinking outside of the box.

Restaurants and stores that never offered a delivery service before lockdown are now implementing new strategies to do so. There are even some new local innovations to help fill the need-gap; instead of waiting for delivery to your home, some retailers are asking customers to ‘drive-by & pick-up' and they ‘deliver’ your order to your car.

Domains.co.za offers Web designers, Web developers, design companies and even entrepreneurs the opportunity to become resellers of our domains or hosting services and secure extra income as a result. Now is the time to be as resourceful as possible.

5. Get the word out online

Take advantage of the time you have available to create awareness for your business online.

The World Wide Web offers various free avenues.

Create or update your business’s social media pages and explore avenues you haven’t considered before. Is your LinkedIn profile updated? How about that of your business and employees? Get it done and get ready to connect professionally.

There is a massive drive in South Africa to support local businesses and to help keep them afloat. Join this drive and make your business known.

Domains.co.za is a local Web site hosting and domains company offering a variety of professional, value-added products and services at affordable prices, which could help entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses succeed online.

* Ts&Cs apply

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Editorial contacts

Adele Hanekom
Marketing Department (Domains)
(+27) 11 640 9700
AdeleH@domains.co.za