COVID-19 has significantly impacted companies of all sizes across the country, and none have perhaps been more shaken by the pandemic than America’s small businesses. According to the Main Street America organization’s Small Business Survey, about 37% of small businesses are at risk of shutting down within the next few months.
Continuing our series celebrating what would have been National Small Business Week, today we hear from Kangaroo, the leader in affordable, easy-to-use home security products. Bob Stohrer, Kangaroo’s Chief Marketing Officer, shares how the company is handling COVID-19 as a resource for many of the small businesses that have had to close their doors at least temporarily due to the current crisis.
How are you supporting small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic?
As a NYC-based start-up, we witnessed the early and profound impact of COVID-19 as small businesses went dark all around us. While our DIY security solutions were designed for homes, we knew they could also be very useful and effective for small businesses. We quickly stood up a “free use and return” offer directed at small businesses, allowing them to safeguard their storefronts at no cost and with no long-term obligation.
What advice would you give to the industry about how to support customers right now?
As a marketer, COVID-19 effectively unfragmented our country and immediately put most everyone on the same page in terms of concerns, needs, and behaviors. In just months, it seemed as though we had turned back the clock by decades to a time when people were oriented around a handful of issues, institutions, and media outlets. The opportunity and mandate right now is to do things fit into this shared narrative, and where feasible to pivot your focus, marketing, and activities accordingly. It’s also a good reminder that creativity loves constraints and not to give up realizing new applications of your business and people.
Are there any fun things your company is doing to maintain company culture working remotely?
A member of our team instituted Friday Happy-Video Hour, which has been a fun way to exhale and stay connected to colleagues outside of the day-to-day pressures of work and what’s going on around us. As a company that operates across three countries, we’re also doing all-company meetings once a week just to ensure everyone is pacing with the business and has a good handle on how COVID-19 is influencing our actions. While not the most innovative and fun thing, it has kept the team informed and inspired.