2020 was a challenging year for everyone, particularly for small businesses. With intermittent lockdowns and social distancing guidelines making it challenging to serve customers, some small firms have unfortunately seen revenues dry up over the last year.
However, not all hope is lost! Here at RapidReg, we built our easy registration form builder during 2020 to help support those small businesses like ours that were struggling to keep customers during lockdowns.
Here, we’re going to shine some positivity and look forward to some hopeful moments we’re keeping our fingers crossed for in 2021.
The End of Lockdown
Perhaps the biggest positive we can look forward to this year is the reduction of lockdown measures that have seen most of the UK stuck at home at the turn of the year.
As COVID vaccines are rolled out across the population, there is growing optimism that the worst is behind us, both for our health and the economy. As cases and hospitalisations decrease in the near future, small businesses will hope that returning to their stores isn’t far away.
While everybody is learning about this at the same time, the consensus is that there will be some form of restrictions for most of 2021. However, if small businesses can operate, that will at least be a step in the right direction.
More Small Business Support from Government?
Whether the UK Government has done enough to support small business is a matter of debate. However, we remain hopeful that as restrictions are lifted, the Government will attempt to entice people back into small businesses to give them the support they need.
During August, after the first lockdown, the UK government introduced Eat Out to Help Out to entice people back into their local establishments. While we might not see the same thing this time around, it’s likely that once restrictions are lifted, the Government will again look to encourage people to shop local.
Growing Support for Local, Sustainable Business
Beyond government, many analysts have also seen shifts in general consumer behaviour over the last year, thanks to the pandemic.
Now more than ever, people are conscious of where they’re spending their money and want to support causes that mean something to them. As a result, we expect consumers to be eager to help small and local businesses once lockdown is eased.
There is a particular demand for businesses that show a sustainable ethos, whether through their products or simply through the way they market themselves.
2021 is going to present unique challenges to small businesses. However, there’s growing optimism and hope that the worst is behind us. With a fair wind, an easing pandemic and support from our loyal customers, it’s possible to make 2021 a huge success!
RapidReg provides a quick, easy and secure way to engage and collect information from consumers, designed specifically for small businesses. Browse our website to discover how our simple service could benefit you.
