Small Business Digital Success Package

Unfortunately, Time is Running Out For Small Businesses Without an Online Presence.

Key stat: Three out of every four (76%) small businesses without an online presence, who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19, expect to last six months or less under current conditions.

Every small business will need to traverse their own digital transformation journey. It doesn't matter if it’s their first priority, bringing business online has always largely been up to small businesses as to when and how you digitize.

The Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic has changed all of that.

While government-mandated closures and social distancing requirements are forcing many businesses that relied heavily on in-person interactions, to suddenly change the direction of their digital transformation journey. Right now, the stakes couldn’t be higher for small businesses. For many, the decision is to digitize or shut down for good.

Major Benefits of Digital Transformation

• Improve customer experience

• Connect with more target customers

• Make informed decisions using data-driven insights

• Reduce labor costs

• Generate more revenue

The Challenge for Small Businesses

At DOHO, we fully understand your unique challenges. It can be overwhelming for small businesses to undergo a complete — or even partial — digital brand transformation alone, especially if it requires strategic planning, technological implementation, content creation, digital marketing, and internal training/maintenance. That’s why DOHO offers a customized service package, specially tailored for small businesses in order to meet your budget, expectations, and desired outcome.

Case Story:
Longhorn Meat Market

“Social media was going to be the extent of our technology.
I had no plans for creating an online shopping experience for raw meat.”

James Leach

Longhorn Meat Market (from 1892) in Austin, TX is an old-school, family-owned butcher shop. Taking orders over the phone or at the counter, and writing everything down on paper invoices put in boxes labeled with the days of the week, it is doing fine but Longhorn had little need for modern technology.

However, when the Austin government shut down physical stores in late March, Longhorn saw its wholesale business—representing 70% of their revenue—disappear overnight. And with major grocery store chains quickly selling out of meat, Longhorn’s retail side exploded with droves of new customers.

For a few days, Longhorn tried to operate like usual. But with only four people allowed in the butcher’s small space at one time due to social distancing requirements, waiting times quickly ballooned to upwards of two hours, all with the phone ringing off the hook. Just 2 weeks after government restrictions were enacted, owner James Leach had to do what was previously unthinkable: Bring his family’s century-old butcher shop online.

By using e-commerce platform Shopify, Leach set up a store on the company’s website where customers could order meat for curbside pickup. A few days later, he added an option for local delivery. It worked too well. Overnight, the shop received 152 new orders—far more than they could handle. Since then, he’s dialed back the delivery scope to better accommodate demand.

There have been other obstacles, too. Though most of Longhorn’s customers have been patient and understanding with their sudden pivot and increased popularity, a few have expressed frustration with order mistakes in online reviews. Leach is trying to hire someone to handle customer service, while also looking into Salesforce to better capture and respond to customer feedback.

Overall, Longhorn is having to work much harder to make the same amount of money, and a lot of big questions and speed bumps lie ahead. But when the alternative was shutting down, the decision to go digital was an easy one. Leach is even considering adding a ButcherBox-like subscription service in the future.

“A butcher shop that was on paper ledgers is now looking at hiring web developers to do custom code for our e-commerce business within a 10-day period,” Leach says. “It’s just crazy.”