How Small Businesses Will Survive COVID-19

It’s undeniable that small businesses face unprecedented challenges in the age of COVID. These are difficult times for everybody and - arguably - the difficulties are just beginning.

Still, regardless if it were a hurricane, a major earthquake, a financial crisis, or a pandemic, it’s my view that small businesses have a competitive advantage during tough times that much larger firms do not.

I’m not referring to their smaller size, their nimbleness, or their innate ability to quickly shed fixed costs. Rather, small businesses have a face. Your face.

Your small business has the ability to project sincerity and compassion in a way that larger firms cannot. Your competitive advantage as a small businesses in hard times is kindness.

People. And I’m talking about customers, vendors, employees, and service providers. Even in an extremely disconnected, automated, and disintermediated economy such as ours, in a practical sense, businesses cannot operate without people buying, selling, delivering, shopping, providing, shoveling, mopping, cleaning, browsing, clicking, or calling. People drive every aspect of our business.

In times like these, savvy small business owners would do well to recognize their unique ability to connect with people as an advantage in every transaction. That they have the opportunity to project sincerity and compassion in ways a bigger company cannot.

And that could come in so many forms. More smiles. More listening. Arriving on time and respecting somebody’s time. By not taking a single opportunity for granted. Through offering a simple sticky note to affirm somebody’s great work. By being enthusiastic. By focusing on the good around us rather than chronically dwelling on the bad. And sure, more tangible things like more bonuses, more breaks, more time off, more leeway, more investment in PPE, or more flexibility - understanding that schedules aren’t as reliable as they had been - but the real advantage being exercised here is just human kindness.

Think about the last COVID-19 response you received from your big bank. It was delivered at four in the morning. It said (with a charming, smiling clip-art graphic), “We’re here for you day and night!”, and it offered a link to their website so they could continue to take your money for credit card or loan payments. They’re a huge corporation! They can’t honestly identify with you insomuch as you can relate to them. Inasmuch, your big bank can’t possibly appear sincere, or empathetic, or truly engaged.

Now picture somebody like me, a computer consultant, coming in to your place of work. I arrive on time. I’m dressed professionally. Sure, I smile under my mask these days, but people can see that in my eyes. I engage in friendly conversation, empathize with your current situation, and I quickly resolve the technical matter. I explain what went wrong in easy terms you can understand. Further, I explain strategies for how we might avoid it in the future. I leave you my business card so you can contact me at any time. And I thank you once again for your continued business.

Now, that’s all just something the big tech support firms, the big box stores, and the nameless phone companies can’t do. They’ve focused so much of their business on scale, volume, you’re a number so be a number, take a ticket, leave a message, press a button, wait a day, but please keep having problems, and pay our retainer, keep feeding us money to support our waterfront offices … sigh.

Well, which of those experiences are you going to remember?

Kindness is competitive.

I feel that demonstrating genuine, compassion to others is the value-add that the big guys simply can’t compete with. In good times or in bad. It could be the advantage that inspires your team to keep coming back to work. It could be the gentle reminder of a pleasant experience that brings a customer back. It could be the portrayal of confident professional enthusiasm that’ll prioritize a check for you in the mail this week.

It could be that kindness … is the one thing that makes you, your products, your services, more memorable, and keeps people calling you over somebody else.

Working from Home? You Need a Computer Consultant.

In the age of COVID, everyone is making changes, particularly as it relates to the nature of work.

If you’re a knowledge worker operating out of your home office, you’re using computer and networking equipment that you’ve never had to really rely upon. Your home PC, your home router, your home wifi - these were devices of convenience.

Today, though, you’re relying on your network and computer equipment is a matter of making an income, running your business, and servicing your customers. In the past, a bit of jitter in watching Netflix wasn’t a big deal, but if you can’t complete a clean teleconference, you might not land that agreement. You need the same security, performance, and reliability out of your home network as your office network, and you need somebody to help you get there.

A computer consultant can help you with these problems. They’ve got real-world industry training and discipline that we can bring to the equipment found in your home office. The same practices and techniques that keep your office network safe can be applied to your home. It’s about enterprise computing at home office scale.

• Computer analysis and endpoint monitoring

• Antivirus, malware, and intrusion detection

• Router inspection and firmware upgrades

• Security analysis and application of best-practices to keep you safe

• Disaster recovery and data backups

• Work telephones and conferencing

• Remote support and troubleshooting

Including all of this, a computer consultant can just give you good, practical advice. Things you should know about and be aware of.

If you believe that the COVID experience isn’t going to end any time soon, and that work-life balance is inexorably going to change one way or another, then establishing a good relationship with a local technical professional is your hedge against data loss, down-time, or critical failure. Get to know someone who works when you work, and can get you out of a tight spot when you really need them.

Just give us a call. And we don’t charge anyone to get to know how we can help them, so it’s not going to cost you anything to just open up a conversation.

R

Apple's Policy on Conflict Minerals, Workforce Conditions, and Supplier Ethics

A buddy of mine at a local networking group asked me about the ethical posture of one vendor, Apple, Inc.

Apple released its environmental responsibility report for 2013 this year.

Apple issued its first conflict minerals report in May 2014. In that report, Apple identified that a majority of its suppliers are in the clear. 

Apple does have a public supplier responsibility policy and a documented Supplier Code of Conduct. 

That said, as recent as Dec 2013, Pegatron and Foxxcon reviews slighted Apple for workforce conditions in China.

An article from The Guardian in March of this year outlines sustainability and workforce improvements made by Apple since that report.

In my opinion, with any firm, I think what you'd want to look for is management intent. Is there intent on behalf of management to be transparent, to cooperate with recognized 3rd parties to investigate report on compliance, with a willingness to disclose sensitive information.

I think you see this intent at Apple.

Myself, I'm a little concerned with Microsoft, when it's CEO recently suggested that women shouldn't ask for raises because it's good karma to not ask for them, but hey, you get to choose who you do business with.

Apple isn't perfect. It will make mistakes. It's also not alone: in my opinion, Google, Nike, Starbucks, and Intel are also very transparent companies. Perhaps that's part of a larger trend brought on by both new federal regulation and progressive management policy? In either case, Apple's management does seem to show consistent commitment and intent to be both transparent and to improve its operations.

That awareness and sense of responsibility may mean something to you the next time you're planning on shopping for a tablet computer.

R