The COVID-19 outbreak crippled the global economy in many ways. We’ve seen businesses shut down and people lose their jobs, which has led to a lot of financial uncertainty. However, with a continuous rise in vaccination rates, the world is slowly reopening. Governments are cautiously optimistic about economies reaching the pre-pandemic levels.

However, the world has entered a new normal, and it can be hard to predict if things will ever go back to being normal again. Lockdowns in Australia were the strictest, and Melbourne is set to end one of the biggest lockdowns the world has seen, given the rising vaccination rates.

Retail, hospitality, aviation, and tourism were the hardest hit industries. If you operate a business within this industry, then you know how hard it was to survive the pandemic.

However, we can’t say when usual consumer demand will return or the economy will improve. Such factors make it increasingly hard for businesses to plan. However, all is not lost, and here are some ways you can get back to business after the lockdown with OrderTron’s help.

Assess The Damages

The first step in rebuilding and reinventing your business is to assess the financial damage caused by the pandemic. For small businesses and food suppliers, it’s time to bring out that excel sheet and update your financials. Start with the hard numbers and profit and loss statements. Compare them to pre-pandemic levels and judge how severely you’ve been affected.

Apart from the numbers, you also need to consider other factors. If you’ve laid off your employees during the pandemic, then you need to assess rehiring costs. Sales, marketing, and advertising budgets need to be adjusted accordingly. Furthermore, the opportunity cost of not being in business and the number of people who have switched to your competitor should also be considered.

Reconsider Your Business Model

Your business model may have worked wonders for you pre-COVID. However, it might not be viable or require some fine-tuning when deciding to reopen your food supply business. If you’re a food supplier or restaurant owner, you need to consider digital expansion and online delivery services. E-commerce has been fuelled further by the pandemic, and it’s wise to cash in on such an opportunity.

You need to analyse the overall impact of the pandemic on your industry before making any decision. If you wish to digitise your business, you’d need all the possible help to transform your business.

For food suppliers, the first step is to simplify your ordering management. By implementing OrderTron’s comprehensive order management solution, you’ll have everything you need to run your business. From production reports, mobile ordering, to batch tracking, the all-inclusive tool is what you need for your business’s digital transformation. You can reinvent your whole business model with the help of OrderTron’s order management software!

Manage Stakeholders

Many businesses failed to survive the lockdowns due to supply chain issues. Poor supply chain management can have severe repercussions and can cause irreversible damage. Prolonged disruptions mean a loss of customers, damage to your business reputation and potential financial loss.

COVID-19 has further highlighted the need for a strong supply chain as it is the backbone of efficient and seamless business operations. You need to understand your suppliers’ abilities and shortcomings to formulate a comprehensive supply chain strategy.

As a food supplier, start by identifying your critical partners. These are the ones your business operations are heavily dependent upon, and you need to find reliable alternatives in case one fails. Your logistic partner plays a crucial role in your supply chain process. Therefore, it is crucial to have open lines of communication to prevent breakdowns.

You can also take advantage of stakeholders who are offering bulk discounts on their current inventory. The pandemic led to businesses sourcing a lot of raw materials and taking protective measures to prevent stockouts. However, with the falling demand, these companies didn’t forecast appropriately, and as a result, suffered from excess stock. You need to identify such organisations and see whether they’re offering any special promotions or bulk discounts.

Furthermore, you need to have a steady relationship with all your partners. Tempers can flare in such stressful times. So keep your cool, be a little patient and be flexible in your approach when dealing with external organisations. You need to have a constant line of communication, as accurate information helps plan for the future and avoid unnecessary disruptions.

Providing incentives to stakeholders to prioritise your business would help in creating an efficient supply chain. Early payments and offering transportation are ways to encourage them to maintain healthy ties with your food supply business. However, the biggest method to keep your partners happy and optimise your processes is through automation.

OrderTron’s supplier management app is your one-stop solution to effectively managing your supply chain issues. You can improve your purchase management process by viewing real-time product quantities and place automated purchase orders. Businesses love certainty in orders, and having an automated system will ensure that automatic purchase orders are placed when quantities fall below a certain level. Furthermore, you can automate your payments and get instant notifications that’ll help you keep track of financial inflows and outflows.

Be Flexible

The pandemic has taught us that we need to have flexibility in every aspect of life. Agile and flexible food supply businesses weathered the storm quite effectively, while others who were too rigid in their approach saw their businesses falter. You need to have adequate systems and processes in place that favour streamlined decision-making. Reacting and adapting to the ever-changing business climate is the best way to protect your company in rough waters.

Digitisation offers flexibility, and if your business hasn’t jumped on the digital bandwagon, you should consider it—you don’t want to look ancient amongst your competitors. Customers are hesitant to step out and shop. They prefer everything to be delivered to their doorstep. Whether it’s grocery, food or clothing, there is an application for everything, and such businesses have excelled during the pandemic. Even though you might have a quality product at an affordable price, you won’t be able to expand your customer base without an online presence and robust internal mechanisms.

Apart from creating an intuitive website, food supply businesses need a streamlined order management process to help in their operations. Online order management software has transformed average businesses into successful ones and has been key to survival during COVID-19. You need mobile order management software such as the one provided by OrderTron to streamline your workflows.

The software offers great flexibility, where you can manage every aspect of your business. You can manage your customer accounts, adjust prices, issue invoices and much more. The software has transformed the ordering process and made it easy for customers to access their favourite retailers and restaurants. Furthermore, you can simplify your stock counts and manage inventory effectively.

Pricing

Even though you might have taken a massive financial hit, you need to be a bit flexible and careful with your pricing strategy. Consumer demand is low, and the last thing you’d want is to drive consumers away with high food supply prices. Therefore, it is important to implement a flexible pricing policy. Adjust prices accordingly and use OrderTron’s order management system to create a multi-tiered pricing system.

Although the pandemic has disrupted the global economy and supply chain, it has also provided us with an opportunity to reinvent, renovate and rethink. You’re more likely to invest to achieve certain competencies that you might not have considered in the pre-pandemic era. Businesses have become increasingly digital and are using data to make informed decisions. Agile operations and automation are becoming increasingly important for businesses to survive and thrive.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive order management system that can help transform your business digitally and helps you weather the storm of uncertainty, then check out OrderTron’s simplified order management solution. The best order management software helps you accelerate order processing and eliminate any human errors.

You can use it on your mobile or any other device. It offers great flexibility as you can operate it from anywhere, anytime you like. It doesn’t require heavy physical infrastructure. If you have a decent smartphone or a laptop computer, then you’re good to go! Automated invoicing and creating credit notes are some of the highlights of the software. Furthermore, it is easy to set up and use. It also offers integration with accounting software such as MYOB, Xero, and QuickBooks.

Contact us today if you’re looking for the best order management software in Australia.