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 Walsall 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).
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.
Think back to businesses you have used, and try and leave them a review.
Of course, we love it when people leave a review on our The Best of Walsall website but anywhere you can leave a review will help these businesses. The most important message is to just leave one.
Click here to leave a review for a business on The Best of Walsall website.
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.
When on a business facebook page - click on ‘Community’ and then invite friends ... it could really make a difference to help a business stay visible at this time
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.
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.
Rather than cancelling events or services and asking for refunds, why not ask for a credit note or voucher that can be used at a later date, again helping the business through this time.
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 people of Walsall will join us in supporting our fantastic local businesses with these points as much as possible so our amazing town of Walsall can unite and help each other in these challenging times.
Here at thebestofWalsall 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.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING LOCAL - IT HAS NEVER BEEN SO IMPORTANT
Click here to see our list of recommended Walsall businesses
