Ideas to help keep your business running during the coronavirus crisis

If you run a salon, shop or any business that requires feet through the door and staff on hand, it can be difficult to know what to do for the best – the government is telling people to avoid people, pubs and the office, but can you afford to shut up shop?

The situation is ever-changing, but to some degree the current social distancing and self-isolation measures look set to be in place for the foreseeable future. This means everyone should work at home wherever possible, and people should only leave the house for exercise or essential food shopping trips. If you do venture outside, you must keep a distance of at least two metres between yourself and people not from your household.

This means more of us need to work from home, and with more people in the house and using WiFi, this can place a big strain on your broadband.

It is now believed that wearing facemasks can help stop the spread of infection and if you’re working closely with other people – in a salon, for instance – they should definitely be worn by both yourself and your clients.

If you are keeping your business running, make sure you follow the NHS advice outlined here and make sure you and your staff are up to date with all of the following:

• Everyone’s emergency contact details.
• The latest NHS advice on prevention.
• The official government guidelines.
• Who needs to self-isolate and why.
• Your pay and absence policies.