Ideas for Businesses - Esther Phang

Times are bad right now. The Singapore government announced a 4th budget on 26th May aimed at providing relief for businesses and employees. This may be a good time to share some ideas to help to improve your businesses. I do not guarantee returns. However, if you never try, you would never know.

These are some ideas which you can implement.

1. Showcasing the culture of your company

Hosting talk shows to talk about their work; like what are the skill sets require for the job, what are the qualities that employers are looking for.
Hosting videos of your workers learning new skills or their daily routine while working from home.
Does your office has a play yard for kids or arcade with dart and claw machines? Why not showcase the different unique corners of your empty office?

Some of these options may backfire especially if you have laid off your staff, and have no intention of hiring.

2. E-Commerce Platform

Involve your customers in the process, especially if you are migrating or updating your e-commerce platform. You can ask the customers to 1. complete a survey or 2. content that they would like to read on the website. Engage your costumers. Keep improvising on your services and products for them! It’s not about you!

Here’s an example:

Here are some ideas for the respective institutions.

Travel

A. Airlines

All airlines are greatly affected by the pandemic. Some airlines have declared bankrupt. However, this is an excellent time to look into improving your brand culture and services. Social distancing maybe the new norm. How could you maintain your operations thenw?

Airports could look into having more Automated Self Check-In Counters and Automated Bag Drop Counters. This will reduce the social interaction.
Update your protocol, especially when it comes to hygiene and cleanliness. Would you like to continue to take the temperature of all passengers in future, even when the pandemic is over? Would you like to offer face mask and hand sanitiser, on top of hot towels, to all passengers when they are boarding the plane?
Why not bring the business class standard to the economy class? Air New Zealand¹ created a new lie-flat seat prototype for passengers flying in the back of the plane. Airlines could collaborate with Air New Zealand to create a new class.

B. Hotels

Other than updating your protocol, on hygiene and cleanliness, you could look into areas to improve your guest experiences. This is the best time to work with interior designers to create a new look for your room. You could use this period to re-look into the rooms and make them more comfortable or Instagram worthy? Maybe the room need a new wallpaper, more USB charging ports or table light? Renovation may not be able to proceed. However, there could be small improvements which can be completed fast. Like… each room just need an universal travel adapter? This is a small investment, and who know’s this may improve your guests' experiences. There is no loss in the long run.

Food and Beverage

Have you ever wondered if any of your consumers would like to learn cooking/baking from your chef? You can host a “live” cooking class, or you could even record down the whole process and post it on Youtube. You can even use this time to create a simple cookbook that is free for your costumers to download.

Honestly, there is no need to worry about people stealing your recipes. We may not be able to recreate the exact taste after following the instruction. The chef knows how to control the heat and improvise on the spot, but not all of us are expat in the kitchen.

What are you more afraid of at this point in time? Having to fold your business, or making some recipes available to the public?

That’s all the idea that I have. I will add on to the list if I can think of more. Jia you everyone!

x, Esther