Effects of Covid-19 are being felt in communities across the world. People and businesses are finding a new normal for operating under government-imposed health and safety restrictions. It’s an ideal time for online entrepreneurs and startups to support one another to stay ahead and afloat.
The agile and reactive nature of the online business makes them more equipped to serve consumers in uncertain times and adjusting as needed to survive. But it will take the online business community to ensure this shift is successful and sustainable.
With this in mind, we are going to share some easy ways online entrepreneurs can support one another during these turbulent times.
Use great tools and resources to communicate with each other
Most online-based operations teams globally are now working remotely. We are all familiar with online tools and platforms. Here are some tools your teams can use to maintain communications and holding meetings.
Our top picks:
- Slack: For day-to-day communication with teams
- Zoom: For group video discussions, meetings and virtual events
- Trello: For teams to-do’s and task prioritization
- G Suite: For sharing documents and presentations
- Eventbrite: For engaging community and marking virtual events
Most of the organizations have now made many of their popular remote working tools available for free in response to the impact of the pandemic.
Community groups to promote collaboration
Maintaining a community and collaboration is going to be vital for the success of the online startup ecosystem over the coming months. Sharing ideas, problems, and solutions, having discussions, and debates will promote a stronger more unified front in the coming economic headwinds.
Online groups will continue to be more engaging in response to the impact of the pandemic. That’s why it’s a great time to reach out to your local or regional startups and follow or become a member of Facebook or other social groups to engage with like-minded founders and entrepreneurs. Social groups are a great community where members post questions, about upcoming events, and share related news.
Attend virtual community events
Many startups and businesses can now use meetups and events to market, build brand awareness, and grow their audience online. With so many levels of health and safety restrictions now in place, many startups have been forced to cancel their events or shift them online.
Always try to attend these events because it will open up your mind. Because these types of events can teach you new strategies that will help you in the long run.
These events will enable businesses to run as best they can and work towards achieving objectives. Meetups, workshops, masterclasses, and more can be done online! These events can even be used as a means to test new products or features, exchange skills, and market research.
Share online resources with each other
Instead of thinking too much about the upcoming future, we can share general marketing methods and business strategies to help each other get the best opportunity to achieve success. We can arrange online meetings to have conversations on how to promote our business in this situation.
Arranging online training sessions to strengthen up the skills of our co-workers is a great idea. Through these sessions, different companies will get to know each other even more. It will also help us to understand the workflow of others and can help us learn from it.
Organize and attend hackathons
Many innovative solutions can arise if through online hackathons. Startups can arrange or attend hackathons to have more ideas to create more opportunities for themselves and the community. Many revolutionary products emerged through these types of events
You can also help society through awareness events against Coronavirus. You can innovate ways to mobilize people in your local community to support everyone.
Host free online webinars
In light of the new era, many event organizers are shifting their conferences online. It’s uncertain until when we’ll all be staying at home. So, host webinars with your team or maybe with professionals from other startups.
The online event, webinar, podcast, YouTube video, Q&A, do whatever you want to. But make sure to give advice based on your expertise and help people to stay motivated.
Offer your advice on remote working
As a member of a startup, you are probably very well aware of the ‘working from home’ concept. Millions of people having their first time working remotely. The newly-created situation has given thousands of managers no other choice but to lead their teams online. To lend a helping hand, you can cover some tips in a blog, Facebook posts, webinar, or Skype calls.
Mentor earlier stage teams in growth programs
There is a growing number of free programs whose main goal is to map out routes to alleviate systemic damage. Startup founders may play a crucial role in the quick response to such challenges.
Offer support to those earlier stages and more fragile startups who are going through this storm. All you need to do is to search the internet for programs that will welcome mentorship in your field of expertise.
Check on your community
Startups working remotely for a long period of time can find themselves feeling down. Particularly if they are also living by themselves. Be sure to check regularly on your teammates and other startup owners who you think are going through a tough situation.
Try to have open conversations and always be there for each other.
Incorporate good mental health practices while in isolation and lockdown. If you are struggling with maintaining health routines then join online meditation and health sessions.
Last words
Supporting each other in this pandemic will make the bond stronger within the startup community. It will really help everyone to make it through this economic downtime. After all, community strength will help us overcome stress and get us through these tough times together. Stay home, stay safe!
