5 ways to prepare for life after COVID-19

So, if you’re a sole trader, and you find yourself with more time on your hands, there are things you could do now to prepare yourself for life and business post-COVID-19. We’ve collated five options for you to consider.

1. Embrace online education and training

From Coursera to MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), there’s a diverse range of free online education available right now. You can study everything from inbound marketing with HubSpot to the share market with the ASX, so it’s worth spending some time investigating subjects that could benefit you or your business in the future.

2. Flex your planning muscles

Evidence shows businesses that engage in long-term planning outperform their competitors in both the short and the long term, so now’s the time to engage in planning. Think about the bigger goals you have and how you could break them down into a set of smaller, achievable plans of action. You might find that when things go back to life as we know it, this was time well spent.

3. Read more

Pull out those documents you’ve downloaded but never read. Rummage around the bookshelf for items you loved, but have forgotten about, or download more reading material: fiction or non-fiction. The National Emergency Library is allowing anyone with internet access to ‘check out’ as many of their 1.4 million books as they like – until the state of national emergency in the US is revoked.

Many local book stores also offer home delivery now, so it might be worth checking which ones service your area.

4. Connect with people (virtually, of course)

Foster your professional relationships, even during this crisis. Now is a good time to reach out to clients or people you always wanted to work with to see how they’re going. Being present on social media and sharing helpful, relevant content can add real value to people’s lives.

5. Reflect on your numbers and data

There may be a wealth of insights and value in your own numbers and data, so why not spend some time investigating those sources? It can be useful to take a look at how far your enterprise has come over time by comparing monthly, quarterly or annual snapshots. You may be surprised at what you discover.

Regardless of whether you choose to brush up on your professional skills, flex your brain muscles, learn something new, plan ahead or look back at what you have achieved, there is plenty of time to do meaningful things. It’s possibly more so the case now than ever before, or ever again. What are you waiting for?

To learn more about how to best navigate your way through the COVID-19 crisis, visit our free resource centre.