Coronavirus (Covid-19) is causing lots of problem worldwide for businesses of all sizes, and I feel for them all as they will be massively impacted in terms of health and wealth.

With different stories and recommendations coming out in the news on a daily basis, it's time for all small business owners to take action and try and protect their business as much as they possibly can.

It's time to think about the tools we are currently using and the tools that we should be using, if you and your business aren't technology savvy at the moment, then now is the time to focus on it and put in place a digital strategy.

Here are some of the tools that all SME's should be utilizing:

•  Loom: Loom enables you to record a video of you, your staff, your products or your desktop screen.  It's free and easy to use so you can engage with all of your customers without having to actually meet with them.
  
• Google Drive: Google Drive is a great Cloud storage solution ideal for small businesses.  Presentations, documents, images, spreadsheets and more can all be easily stored and shared with your clients and colleagues.
  
• A.I. Website:  Business is now more than ever likely to be conducted online, so having Artificial Intelligence built into your website is now so important.  A.I. generates engagement with visitors with location based messages, offers, number of visits and seasonal messages.  By using A.I. your website will be converting more traffic into customers all day / every day.
• Google Meet:  Google Meet is an Online Meetings solution and is so simple to use, you do not need to download any software and works well through your internet browser.
• E-commerce:  This links in very well with the A.I. Websites and will give your business the ability to sell your products or services online.  If you are selling a physical product it could then be shipped out through a courier, if you are selling a service (i.e. consultancy or training) this could be delivered through Google Meet.  Having an easy to use e-commerce solution that is easy to update and maintain is important for small businesses as they can't afford the time and effort to learn complicated systems in these challenging times.
  
• Mobile App:  A great way to keep your customers engaged and buying repeatedly from you is through your own Mobile App.  You can include things like loyalty cards, memberships, videos and other app specific content.
  
• WhatsApp:  WhatsApp is used by nearly everyone for personal conversations, but it can also be an extremely powerful tool for businesses.  It's available in lots of different countries around the world and can be used for text, voice and video.
• Google PPC:  It's all well and good having a nice A.I. Website, but you still need to drive traffic to it.  Google is an ideal way to get your prospects there.  However, managing Google campaigns correctly does take expertise, so make sure you partner with a team  that understands your business.
•  Social Media Strategy:  Social Media posting and advertising has never been so effective to target the correct audience that will engage with your  business.  Social Media can work extremely well for small business if done correctly, so make sure you do use a partner who understands thoroughly what your business does and who your ideal customers are.
•  CRM and Marketing System:  It is so important that you are collecting data from your prospects and nurturing them through an email marketing strategy.  It helps to build up that  true and authority with your audience.  Millions of small businesses still do not leverage these systems to great effect.
  

To help you as much as we can we've put together a short audit to help small businesses which takes around 20 minutes to complete.  It's completely free and will review your current digital tools and advise the best next steps.