INTERVIEW: Douglas Kruger: Virus-Proofing Your Small Business

Interviewed By: Jarette Petzer on ImStayingMedia

What have you been doing during the lockdown? We know what Douglas Kruger has been doing with some of his downtime. Besides playing dinosaur games with his three-year old son, the prolific writer has written another book for Penguin Publishers.

It took Douglas a record time of eight days, and a record amount of coffee, to get the book written. It will be available in a week’s time. Douglas is a master at adapting his business to suit the times, so the book will be available in E-Book format for now.

The book hinges on one simple principle: profitability over cost. It outlines 50 separate ideas, and covers both psychological issues and practical advice. The name of the book? Virus-proof Your Small Business – Fifty Ways to Survive the COVID-19 Crisis.

“It’s entirely possible to conserve yourself into the grave, but you’ve also got to bring in some cash flow.”

We’ve highlighted three salient points Douglas made in his interview with Jarette Petzer:

Make the decision to fight for your business. Your business DOES matter. It matters to your family, it matters to your income, and to the country’s economy.
Look for new ways to do business NOW, by focusing on your skills and what value you can offer to your customers. Ask yourself, what does my customer need, now?
This crisis has highlighted how interconnected we are. People are looking for ways to support small businesses – your small business.

As for practical advice, Douglas offers the following:

Use this time to take a good look at your website, if you have one.
- Is everything on the website in working order?
- Have you added a Digital Tip Jar to your site? If customers believe you have given exceptional service, they can pay something over and above what you have charged.
- Be specific and clear with your offers. Don’t ‘COVID-19’everything. One example Douglas gave was this: Don’t send out an e-mail that says ‘COVID-19 update’. Everyone is doing that. Say ‘Four things you can do to improve your presentation skills right now during the lockdown’. It’s specific, it gets right to the point, and offers value quickly.
Respond to customer queries, if you have not done so. It is always imperative to respond quickly to customer queries, but even more so now.
Adapt. Look for new ways to serve your customer now. One example, which will help with cash flow, is to offer vouchers. Look for other ways as well.

Although technology can offer many opportunities in the fields of entertainment, skills transfer and more, Douglas says we do not need to rely on it. It’s your personality that is the strong seller. One only has to look at David Attenborough’s success to see the value in that statement. He took the theme of Nature, and technology grew around him.

“If there’s anything you wanted to study right now, public speaking might very well be top of the list.”

Most importantly, Douglas urges us to take action. Many of us panic, then sit back and wait. Don’t wait. Take action. Write that book. Start building your reputation in whatever it is you are passionate about. Examine your core skills and redeploy them.

Virus-proof your small business.