Coronavirus is a class of viruses that has recently resurfaced in the media due to a new infectious strain being discovered that is currently causing a pandemic. This strain of Coronavirus is called COVID-19, and has currently infected at least Country ‘Global’ is invalid. people to date.
Quick FAQ
Yes. Only face to face meetings have been suspended. All products and services are available and functioning normally.
Very likely, especially due to government interventions and falling customer numbers.
We’ve launched a COVID-19 tracker for you to get hourly up-to-date information about the outbreak. It is available on mmediagroup.fr/covid-19.
Prepare. Read below for more.
How this affects your business
Your business is likely to see impacts from the outbreak. Most notably, you might see:
- Decreases in customer numbers
- Decreases in sales and revenue
- Increases in unexpected expenditures
- Increases in brand perception volatility
As cases are more frequently reported on and less people go out, your business will see less customers and less revenue.
During this outbreak, unforeseen costs may also arise. Your brick and mortar (physical location) stores may be asked to close, or you might be forced to close them due to operational costs.
Why you should prepare your business
News reports of places of business nurturing the spread of Coronavirus have been rampant. The outbreak itself is widely reported to have started from the Wuhan fish market, which is likely to have strong detrimental effects on the perception of the fish market in customers eyes and hurt overall sales for some time.
In global cases like this; as a business it’s best to take one of two approaches: be active/engaged in the solution, or lay low.
Being active and engaged means helping out the local community actively as a business in times of need. As an example, if you’re a bakery, you could send loaves of fresh bread daily to hospitals for free. This may or may not get your business in the media, but it’ll have a positive effect on your brand perception either way.
Laying low is the opposite approach of that: just go along with the times but be ready to take actions that are likely to come up. This minimises damage to your brand and will help your business spring back to normal faster when the outbreak is over.
Whatever approach you decide your business should take, you need to prepare yourself and your business for the rapidly developing situation.
Preparing your physical place of business
Be ready for the rapidly unfolding events as they happen. Some of these tips apply to both physical and online businesses.
- Verify your financial point of closure
At some point it may be more expensive to keep the business open than to close it down. Be sure you know when that moment comes and act accordingly when it does.
- Be prepared to close your business early if asked to do so by authorities
If neighbouring businesses have closed and you have not (even though you weren’t asked), this may be negatively interpreted as being haphazard and reckless on your part.
- Check and strengthen your capital reserves for emergencies and unforeseen events
Be ready to pay for downtime as well as for future cleanup and disinfection needs that may arise.
- Verify your insurance policies
- Inform yourself and your team on best hygiene practices, and ensure strict adherence
- Implement more frequent cleaning schedules
- If possible, increase the distance between hotspot areas to avoid customers clustering together
Example: a small shop may increase the distance between products on shelves to increase spacing between browsing customers.
Example: a restaurant may increase the spacing between tables to ensure as much separation between customers as possible.
- Limit the amount of people in your place of business at any one time, or move your business 100% online if you can
Some countries already have limitations in place: in France the limit is currently at
1,000100 people.
If you can, move your business online. Whether its moving internal business operations online or creating new sales channels on the web, we’re here to help your business. Just contact us.
Temporary measures at M Media
The largest temporary measure in effect is that all face to face meetings have been suspended until further notice. Otherwise, M Media remains open as per the usual opening hours via chat, email, or phone.
M Media has also decreased pricing for some services to help businesses in these times of need. Temporary price reductions have been applied to setting up business remote working solutions, notably Slack.Web development contracts can now be broken into smaller, longer term payments. Consultations regarding how your business can benefit from the web during the outbreak and beyond are now temporarily free.
Effects on your business with M Media
All our services and products remain available and functional throughout this outbreak, so there should be no adverse effects on your business with M Media.
More information on what your business can do
More information on COVID-19
The situation is dynamic and this page will be updated regularly. You can also check the following resources for more information:
- M Media Coronavirus Watch map
- The World Health Organisation up to date info
- The World Health Organisation Q&A on Coronavirus
- John Hopkins live map
- Warning: you may see a similar map on other sites; be aware there have been reports of those maps installing malicious code onto your computer, more info at Krebs on Security