More than 1,000 business owners attended a free online webinar hosted by Golden West, Thursday morning.

"Pushing Your Business Through The Pandemic" was the theme, and it focused on providing advice and tools to small businesses trying to navigate these uncertain times. Topics included how to communicate with customers through the pandemic, tips on managing teams remotely, and digital strategies to stay connected to clients.

Matt Sunshine, from the Center for Sales Strategy, was one of the speakers. He’s based in Plano, Tex., and manages a team of 40 full-time employees that have been working remotely across the U.S. for the past 25 years.

“It is proper mindset, it’s how to get ready for work, it’s what are the required tools, and how do you communicate correctly,” explained Sunshine as he spoke about the massive transition across the Canadian economy to working from home.

KPMG’s Stuart Pollon built on Sunshine’s comments and spoke about the factors to consider in managing a team remotely, and the challenges facing small business owners in today’s COVID-19 driven economic environment.

“How do I access the programs, how do I access the funding… we’re seeing a lot of our clients, and the folks we work with very focused on cash flow and liquidity and managing that,” explained Pollon, while also citing cybersecurity as another important operational consideration. “We are seeing (that) at an unbelievable proportion, not just globally, but here in Canada and across the west, we are not immune to that.”

On the marketing front, Chuck Mefford, founding partner of Brands Formation, stressed the time is now for businesses to promote what they do and get their message out.

“It’s a time of enormous media consumption,” stated Mefford. “There’s some studies out right now, because people are using media a lot more obviously at home, consumption is off the charts.”

Meanwhile, George Leith, the Chief Revenue Office at Saskatoon’s Vendasta, said it’s important for owners to look beyond the current circumstances we are in, and prepare for what he referred to as “the bounce”.

“What are you going to do in your business to get ready for the bounce,” was the question Leith posed to the webinar participants. “If you look back in history, there’s always been a bounce that’s occurred after some sort of downturn, and how you may be able to prepare for that bounce.”

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