We understand that small businesses are facing an unprecedented time of disruption resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
While sadly many businesses have no option other than to close their doors, here at the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) we are hearing about business owners who have been able to innovate and find a new direction. This series of posts is about sharing ideas from WA small businesses that have found a way of doing business differently.
Lauren Bird, Success
Lauren Bird is a graphic and digital designer based in Success, who started her business just six months ago. She focusses on providing design support, primarily to mental health professionals and people working in the mental wellness space.
The disruption caused by coronavirus restrictions motivated Lauren to look at creative ways to deliver her service, including providing mentoring to empower people to make their own graphic elements, and moving client meetings onto Zoom instead of catching up for a coffee.
Other specific changes Lauren has made include:
- creating free downloadable poster designs with coronavirus messages, to help people communicate their needs and stop the spread of infection
- focusing on more content creation and business planning as well as being highly strategic in marketing and value pricing, to adjust to her offer to the market’s reduced economic reality
- increasing her social media engagement, to stay visible to clients and prospects while working remotely
There have been some unexpected benefits to the new approach. The higher level of social media engagement has connected Lauren with people who have also had to move their operations online, while conducting meetings remotely has opened up a new market of clients on the east coast and overseas. Furthermore, the donation of her time and expertise to creating free social awareness posters has driven increased traffic to her website and opened the door to some more interesting business relationships.
Lauren says, “It's proving to be far less dire than I first imagined and being able to work remotely is working out perfectly.”
If you would like to find out more about Lauren Bird visit her website, Facebook page or Instagram account.
Thanks for sharing your ways of doing business differently Lauren Bird!
