Whether you’ve been one of those that have succumbed to the panic buying and have more loo rolls in your house than space to store them all, or you’re getting on with your day to day life in as normal way possible, the reality is COVID-19 is creating a lot of uncertainty for local businesses and customers alike.

But there’s great deal of positive things you can do for your local Hertford and Ware businesses and help minimise the effects on their owners and their staff who will be having a very uncertain and challenging time right now.

Here’s a short and very easy list of things you can do to help businesses in pretty much every sector (…and most of them won’t cost you a penny).

1. Leave a review

When someone leaves a 5 star review for a business, I promise you, it puts fuel in the tank of that business owner and everyone that works in that business.
It gives a little warm glow and they feel really good and at times like this, we all need to feel really good and you can make that happen today if you leave a review.
Of course, thebestof Hertford and Ware love it when people leave a review on our website but anywhere you can leave a review will help these businesses. The most important message is to just leave one.

2. Like, comment on and share their social posts

Whether it’s a new product, a service you’ve had, an interaction with a member of the team, or a meal you’ve had at a restaurant, interacting with social posts from your local businesses or venues could significantly increase their post engagements and widen their audience. It won’t cost you a penny and you can show a little bit of solidarity.

Be supportive, be kind, be helpful. It’ll go a long way to those that are really struggling.

3. Ask if they offer “non-contact” alternatives

If the business traditionally serves customers on a face-to-face basis e.g. restaurants, shops etc, ask them if they can offer a delivery or call/click-and-collect service. The government has recently given restaurants the permission to offer takeaway menu options to help ease some cashflow.
This not only helps keep some form of revenue coming in, but also strengthens the relationship between the owners and customers, which will only be a good thing when normal service resumes in the coming months.

4. Buy a gift voucher

Vouchers could be a vital lifeline for local businesses over the coming weeks and months. You can show your support because buying a gift voucher to use at a later date you help that business in the here and now. Most businesses allow their gift vouchers to be redeemed between six-twelve months after purchasing and some restaurants have even extended this period because of the current climate.

5. Sign up to their newsletters 

If you really want to show that you care about what’s going on with a business, why not sign up to their newsletter? You might even find you get to be first in the know about special events, discounts and new products or services and when the business is fully back to normal operation.

We recognise that things are changing virtually every day on what we can do as a society. These few small things in this article could all help support the local businesses who will be affected quite significantly over the coming weeks and possibly months.

We hope that the brilliant people of Hertford and Ware will join us in supporting our fantastic local businesses with these points as much as possible so our amazing town of Hertford and Ware can unite and help each other in these challenging times.

Here at thebestof Hertford and Ware we ask that you share this and spread this because if we all did some of these things, the impact it would have would be huge for the sense of well-being across the country.