Ant or the Grasshopper? How to Prepare for This Winter

Do you remember the Aesop Fable of the Ant and The Grasshopper? All summer long, the grasshopper plays while the ant works and works. When Winter arrives, the grasshopper has no food and desperately knocks on the ant's door.

You guys, it’s about to go down this winter, and let’s be that hard-working ant.

What does that mean?

It means that even though we’re still soaking up the last bits of summer, our foot traffic, outdoor spaces and experiential offerings are about to dry up our revenue streams.

COVID-19’s economic impact is about to rear its ugly head again.

This week, we’re highlighting ways you can prepare for the winter and continue to create revenue for your business. Start now and plan out different ways to create revenue and connection with your customers:

1. How can you re-gig your offerings? Take a look at your inventory or services and do a brain dump on other ways you could re-gig your offerings for the winter. Is it a subscription offering? Can you now provide delivery? Can you create custom orders? We bet that there are some business model ideas you’ve always thought about incorporating, but just haven’t had the time. What are those ideas, and how can you bring them to life this winter?

2. Do your research: based on your industry, what are other similar businesses doing? How can you create it for your own following? Do a hashtag search on Instagram and a search on Pinterest to see what others are doing and how they’re offering it.

3. Go to the People: If we have to shut ‘er down for a second wave, then how can you directly bring your product or service to the customer? For instance, if you run a retail clothing store, can you do virtual shopping as a service? Can you create custom monthly boxes for clients?

4. Don’t get Quiet. This is the time to really amp up your content marketing efforts by posting regularly to social media. Don’t let people forget about you. Run a $20 Facebook/Instagram ad. Host a contest. Send Direct Messages to thank new followers for following you. These tactics will bring you into more people’s feeds and they’ll always be reminded of what you offer.

These are just a few ways you can think about creating new revenue streams for the winter.