In these times of disruption and social distancing, many challenges loom for foreign workers and their employers.

1. Work permit applications

The pandemic has caused a slowdown of many business and government services worldwide. As a result, some temporary foreign workers are struggling to gather documents required for their work permit applications.

Passport renewals, police reports and official document translations are now difficult to obtain and may complicate entry into Canada for foreign workers. Making sure that workers have the documents required to apply for a work permit has become critical for employers.

2. Travel to airports

Confinement and travel restrictions in certain countries may make it hard for workers to get to the airport. Despite having all the authorizations required to travel to Canada, workers could have trouble leaving their country simply because inter-regional transportation is less frequent or limited. Employers will need to help manage departure logistics and provide their workers with documentary evidence to facilitate travel to the airport.

3. Self-isolation

Upon their arrival in Canada, temporary foreign workers are required to self-isolate for 14 days. In Québec, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec has issued highly restrictive recommendations in this regard. Employers are responsible for implementing measures prior to worker arrival, such as limiting occupancy to two per room, disinfecting facilities daily, posting health recommendations in the workers’ language and monitoring workers for symptoms.

4. Social distancing on work sites

Health recommendations continue to apply on work sites even after the 14-day self-isolation period. Workers must wash their hands frequently and stay at least two metres apart from each other. To allow them to respect social distancing requirements, employers may need to adjust their operations.

5. Costs

The costs of transportation between the airport and work site, 14-day self-isolation with pay and sometimes even the plane ticket will be borne by the employer. The federal government announced $50 million to help farmers and food producers offset these costs.

COVID-19 has created a real headache for businesses awaiting the arrival of temporary foreign workers. Having a solid strategy to ensure a seamless immigration process for foreign labour is now more important than ever, and will help employers minimize administrative delays and avoid some of these challenges.

Long before the COVID-19 health crisis, financial administration was already one of the major challenges for Canadian business managers. In the past few months, many companies have had to review their priorities and rethink their ways of doing things.

With accurate and up-to-date information, decision-makers can keep their plans for the future on track and prepare for headwinds. This will be especially crucial as Canadian businesses navigate recovery in the uncertain months ahead.

Here are three reasons to optimize your finances and help you deal with this new business reality:

1. Accessing cash

The situation caused by pandemic has highlighted areas of improvement in the way many small businesses in Québec handle their finances. Often set aside for lack of time or knowledge, cash flow management is particularly critical when applying for an emergency loan or other support measures related to the crisis.

To keep their business running and carry it forward, many entrepreneurs may find themselves having to take a step back during this stressful time to get a clear understanding of their financial situation and evaluate their contingency plan and develop predictive scenarios. This will allow them to put their best foot forward to obtain financial assistance quickly from their bank or government and ensure a favourable business recovery.

As most business managers have recognized, sound daily financial management has become increasingly important in these challenging times.

2. Rethinking business models

The message from Québec leaders is clear: to remain sustainable, businesses will need to adapt to the new realities brought on by the pandemic. In a time of social distancing, virtualization and supply chain disruptions, many companies will have to rethink their business model from the ground up to be profitable in the medium term.

Entrepreneurs will need to ask themselves what operations, products and services are actually profitable. They’ll need to monitor their results very closely, evaluate returns on investment and be ready to quickly adjust their strategy. Having a clear vision of their finances will be critical in this context.

3. Securing business partners, or finding new ones

The entrepreneurial landscape will have changed completely as a result of the pandemic. There will be mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances as entrepreneurs strive to keep their businesses afloat. To ensure transparent communication and bring deals to the closing table, entrepreneurs will need to provide accurate numbers to current or future business partners.

Entrepreneurs should therefore start implementing sound financial management practices right now. Simple online technologies can help those who lack time for accounting tasks make sure they have proper systems in place to manage their budget.

Our experts offer an affordable, cloud-based solution, supported by our affiliate Operio, to help entrepreneurs bring their vision for their business to life.

COVID-19 has considerably transformed the economy and the systems in place. What if this crisis helped you reinvent yourself?

Businesses have been seeing major changes for a few months now and they can expect to see more in the coming weeks. Your competitors and business partners will adapt; some will disappear. Your employees will have to get used to new processes and you’ll have to find ways to keep them engaged. Technology will continue to play an ever-important role.

Your clients’ needs and their consumer behaviours will assuredly change in the wake of this crisis. In this context, will your current business model still work for you? Here are a few things to think about.

The context has changed, so have your clients

Let’s face the facts: this crisis will change your clients and their consumer habits will evolve. They will even perhaps turn to some of your competitors for a more crisis-adapted offer. Even their needs and expectations won’t be the same.

Clients who would have previously shopped for a bargain will now value the local aspect of the product or service, or even safety, hygiene or availability above all else. You may have gained new customers during this period who have a very different profile from your regular customers, but whom you will want to continue to serve post-COVID.

Know your clientele

Get to know your clients by talking to them, surveying them and assessing their consumer habits. Don’t rely on your historical data—they no longer reflect the current situation and the new era we’re entering.

Whether through a survey or a short questionnaire when you receive an order or individual calls, you can gather information on your clients’:

• Current and new needs in the wake of the crisis;
• Concerns about your offer post-COVID-19;
• Expectations regarding how you do business and communicate with them post-COVID-19;
• New consumer habits for products and services like yours.

Take a look at their shopping carts and orders to see what has changed and which products and services are in high demand and which ones are not.

These analyses will help you retarget your offers and build a new client segment from your existing clientele (some may have switched from B2B to B2C mode). That way, you can adapt your communication and distribution channels, potentially leading into the digital transformation of the client journey.

Evaluating the client journey and its digital transformation

Until today, customer relationships under various business models relied first and foremost on face-to-face interactions. People were at the heart of product sales and service delivery. The COVID-19 crisis, business closures, teleworking and the rise of online shopping have drastically reshaped those dynamics.

What will come out of this situation is that consumers will adopt new purchasing behaviours and resort more and more to digital channels to buy their goods and services. The crisis will speed up the digital transformation of businesses. Human interaction will prevail but it will no longer play as big a role.

You must therefore redefine the client journey by identifying your points of client contact, including at the information gathering, delivery and after-sale service stages. You can then find out how the digital transformation can optimize their experience and create value before, during and after their purchase.

Ask yourself these questions to better understand your client journey and how the digital experience fits in:

• How do your clients want to be reached?
• How have their consumer habits evolved?
• How do they currently contact you, be it physically or virtually? (Your best strategy is a multichannel strategy.)
• Based on their needs, how can you diversify your points of contact?

Consider all of the steps involved in service delivery, research and after-sales:

• Before the purchase (website, social networks, referrers, Google Ads, etc.);
• During the purchase (transactional website, email, online chat, etc.);
• After the purchase (follow-up, website survey, etc.).

While the digital transformation can contribute to diversifying your revenues and improving operational efficiency, it should not be at the expense of the client experience.

Digitalization strategies are not just transaction-focused; they also allow you to drive client commitment and foster relationships and partnerships.

What about your operations?

Delve a little deeper to find out how you can adapt your activities to your clients’ needs. It might make sense to modify your offer and processes, integrate new technological tools, review your supply chain management, develop new partnerships and monetize your products and services.

Social distancing will continue for a while longer—it will disrupt how you do business and it will create new client habits. Consider the potential impacts.

Here are some important questions that will help you further your analysis and steer your business model in the right direction:

Product or service offer

• Should you develop new services or products using your current assets to meet client needs?
• Should you adapt your current offer?
• Should you trim your current offer and focus on more promising products or services in the medium and long terms?

Supply chain

• Should you review your supply chain to improve its efficiency in the current context?
• Are there any options that were previously irrelevant but would now be worth considering?

Suppliers and partners

• Should you opt for new partners and suppliers to promote or deliver your offer while meeting new client needs?

Resources and workforce

• Do you have the resources (material, human, technological) to support the changes to your operations?

Payments

• Should you monetize your offer differently?
• Can you issue your invoices and accept payments differently?

As you review your business model, those are the factors to consider. It will help you redefine your business so that, ultimately, you’ll be better equipped to overcome future challenges resulting from changes to the social and economic environments.

Our strategic experts are here to support you during the relaunch of your activities and throughout the process of adapting to this new reality.