As the state and county loosen restrictions over the coming weeks and months, the responsibility shifts to individual private business owners and organizations to make decisions on what’s safe and what is actually good for business.
They are now responsible for the safety of their customers and, by definition, the community.
They are even responsible for protecting their mindful and cautious patron from others that do not have a belief in COVID-19 and/or don’t care to take precautions.
So, the question business owners and organizations need to ask is, which customers do you need to accommodate to make your business safe and thus viable?
It’s an important question because with the right answer 1) the right customers will bring in more customers and clients and 2) the wrong customers will increase the likelihood of exposure in your business establishment and increase the probability and frequency of required temporary shut-downs because of localized quarantines.
A Matter of Believing and Caring
Customers and clients are going to fall somewhere within these two categories of believing and caring, ranked from best for business to worst for business as restrictions loosen.
Believe it vs Don’t Believe it: This comes down to a simple determination of whether or not someone believes COVID-19 is a threat at all or if it is even real. It is a measure of someone’s thoughts and opinions about the COVID-19 as a pandemic.
Care/Caution vs Don’t Care: Care is measured by someone’s willingness to take preventative measures and precautions either for themselves or, more importantly, for others. It is a measure of their actions, their actual behavior, relative their thoughts and beliefs.
The Best and Worst Customers for Your Business During COVID-19
The Community is in Your Hands Now
So, the decision for a small business owner or someone who runs an organization comes down to assessing risk, something good entrepreneurs are already good at. Only in this situation those risk assessments extend beyond their doors and into the entire community.
Now they have to ask, what role will my business play in protecting the most vulnerable members of our community against people who just don’t care?