Many individuals have been advising entrepreneurs and small/med sized businesses on what they should do to re-open their business as COVID restrictions loosen.

We have never taken the position of telling you what to do or say. We simply ask you to think through some of the ideas and concepts we put forth.

As you consider re-opening your store, your office, your building, be careful. Make sure that you follow the CDC guidelines, and those your city or state may be enforcing.

You might also want to be aware of what your customers want you to do, and what your employees want to see you implement to insure their safety, security, and health in place.

Let’s look at a restaurant as an example. We’ve heard that some restaurants are buying new furniture because their city is allowing businesses to use the parking lot as an extension of their service area. Here are a few things to think through before buying new furniture:

Can you retool or refurbish some of the existing furniture to withstand being outdoors temporarily? Permanently? No one knows how long this is going to last. Some say January, others 18 months, or possibly up to three years. No one really knows the duration. As you mover furniture around ask yourself: Is this be sustainable over the next week, month, year or longer?

If things move forward only to be pulled back again - as we are seeing in some countries already - what will you do with that new furniture. Where can you store it so it will be out of your way, or will you move it back and forth? Is it sturdy enough to support regular moving? Can you stack it? What else can you do with it?

There are many other questions to be answered as you consider re-opening your business.

BEFORE YOU GO

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

1. Think about being flexible with re-opening, knowing you might be closed again for a while.

2. Think about re-tooling what you already have before adding new things.

3. Think about storage options or other things you may need beyond a temporary fix