When COVID-19 starting kicking off, and before we were asked to remain indoors for 3 weeks, the MINT Business Club members helped me list all the activities they were going to do for their businesses whilst everything was effectively put on hold.
I started them off with 20 of my own ideas but they piled on the suggestions and now we have 66! Have a read through the list and let us know which you’ve done, you’re planning to do or other stuff you’re up to.
- Delete all the old emails you’ve ignored for months and years
- Check all the contacts in your emails are stored properly
- Check you responded to all the emails!
- Delete all the old documents and photos you no longer need on your phone and laptop/PC.
- Order and store everything that you didn’t delete
- Back up everything on your PC if you don’t already
- Sort out your online storage in the Cloud too
- Write a blog
- Plan a series of blogs
- Plan your social media
- Schedule the social media that you have planned
- Teach yourself something new – Canva, Video, something for your profession
- Check and update your website
- Check and update your LinkedIn profile
- Set some targets to extend your network on LinkedIn!
- Write and send a newsletter to your clients
- See how much of your business you can do online
- Download and learn how to use Zoom to offer 121’s to clients
- Come out of the social media groups that distract you
- Stay calm and put out the positive vibes…
- Declutter/sort your home office! Louise heaps
- Define your brand voice.
- Write your brand story.
- Complete online courses you didn’t finish yet.
- Declutter your life, clear your mind, get outside for a walk.
- Start a simple project with the kids e.g. veg patch or mud kitchen.
- Plan your next 6 months and mind map new ideas
- Read a book you have been meaning to read
- Volunteer to help others in your area
- Reflect on your business, Hannah Hub
- Get your saxophone out, Pip Coley
- Revamp your product photography (use the opportunity to play with different props, lighting etc) and give your online shop an overhaul, Claire Edwin
- Form online networking groups and connect with clients, build communities – not a replacement for the real thing but will see us through, Tracey Hutchinson and Julia Murray
- Make more chickens, Sarah Ball
- Investigate alternative social media sites to advertise your product on, Katharine Norris
- Find lessons from this extreme situation, find the goodness… be the goodness. Dr Rebecca Williams Dinsdale
- Look through LinkedIn connections and have a proper conversation with key people Lara Mellor
- Write an online Masterclass
- Shred old documents you no longer need
- Daily Facebook live videos
- Stay connected with your friends, colleagues and neighbours
- Have a money diet – essentials only and reward yourself regularly with a nice spa bath, meditation, motivational, Rebecca De’Wessington
- Implement any new systems or procedures you’d been putting off, Joanne Rowland
- Mindmap ways to innovate your business and reach out to people for a chat, Paul Short
- Take some time to do some market research. It’s not just something to do before you start your business and write your business plan. Check out competitors, Leigh Trimble
- Contact old clients and ask for referrals, Karen James
- Conduct a Self-review and ask yourself – what has gone well for your business in the last 6 months, which areas are most profitable, which need issues addressing? We often don’t get time to take stock but will need to be super productive when we get back to things so where are the best places to focus our attention? Rebecca McGarvie
- Check that your insurance policy includes business interruption for public health closures and infectious diseases, Darren Glanville
- Reach out to anyone that struggles with any of those things you’re good at, Gary @ ThinkSmall
- Get the sketchbook out and do some planning /designing for future collections, Claire Edwin
- Revamp your product photography (play with different props, lighting etc) and give your online shop an overhaul, Claire Edwin
- Go into your phone contacts and reconnect with people who you haven’t spoken to in ages. This won’t last forever, so plan future coffee dates, or do online coffee using zoom. Rie Pearson
- Find things to automate. Update your contact details and FAQ page on your website, Rachel Locke
- Create a database of potential clients, Jenniflower Shields
- Create a social media schedule for the year featuring key dates in your industry, Danielle Stanley
- Learn how to use WordPress and get your website SEO optimised, Sal Jefford
- Block my day and turn off emails and deal with current inbox, Suzanne Whelan
- Find time to look up and enjoy the sunshine, Nic Watson
- Sorting out photographs and put them into files, Catherine Muir
- Admin! Make sure any paper records you have are up to date and sort and store them. Get rid of any documents you don’t need and take the time to tidy what you do have. Everyone ignores organisation because it can be tedious but it’s so satisfying when it’s done. Gemma Ryan
- Follow/unfollow on social media and do a social media audit! Tessa Budd
ALL ABOUT THE MONEY
Get on top of your cash flow, do your accounts early, get your tax return done, make sure you have paid your bills and remind clients to pay theirs. Darren Glanville, Laura Cook, Michelle Rose, Lorraine Ellison
Let us know how you are now spending your time and what you’ve achieved over the last couple of weeks for your business.
Join us in our Business Support Group over on Facebook