“Small businesses are continuing to face major disruptions. The majority are seeing a big slowdown in work, as always happens with uncertainty. The challenge with managing remote staff means also there’s a lot of time wasted in having multiple conversations that would have ordinarily been resolved quickly face-to-face,” he said.

“Employee engagement and morale is really difficult to maintain in a stressful environment. Almost all staff would be anxious, clients are stressed and taking it out on the nearest punching bag. Lawyers are notoriously used as punching bags.”

Mr Aldridge added that particularly due to the Delta strain of COVID-19, many small businesses are “seriously contemplating insolvency or are close to the edge”, many still awaiting government payments to keep them afloat.

“COVID is really biting hard this time with the DELTA strain. It’s a doozy, and although there appears to be an end in sight, the Government has only indicated an easing of restrictions once we reach the magic numbers of 70/80 per cent vaccinations. We don’t know how that’s going to play out,” he explained.  

“There’s most likely going to be a lag in coming out of this latest lockdown as well, which is expected, the deeper we go. The longer the lockdown, the slower the recovery seems to be.”

According to Mr Aldridge, firms can support their small-business clients by calling and checking in on them, as well as being flexible on costs and extended payment terms, where possible.

“Support clients and their business. See if they’re selling products or services that could benefit your law firm or staff members or client gifts,” he recommended.

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“Just showing a little bit of support to your clients can go a long way.”

Furthermore, Mr Aldridge said that lawyers should continue to be on the lookout for opportunities during the pandemic – including looking out for top talent that has been made redundant by other firms and increasing their marketing tactics.

“If work is slowing down for you, you should be speeding up marketing activities. Remember last year when marketing just went silent? Well, guess what happened to all those that turned their marketing up? They won big time, because when everyone else was silent, they stood out,” he said.

“Think about all the things you missed doing last year during the lockdown and prioritise them. We’re probably going to come through this faster than we might fear, so don’t delay.”

For Progressive Legal, the firm is largely focused on normality being restored post-pandemic.

“Most of all I think we’re looking forward to normality being restored and enjoying the freedoms we have certainly taken for granted,” Mr Aldridge said.

“We are thankful to the government for putting the health of its citizens first while we get to herd immunity, but it sure will be good to celebrate the end of this ‘war’.”

Mr Aldridge concluded that whilst the short-term market outlook for small businesses wasn’t a positive one, the medium and long-term outlook was. He advised firms to keep an eye out for small businesses that were thriving during the pandemic.

“Keep on the lookout for those small businesses that can afford legal services right now. They’re the ones to target your marketing towards,” he said.

“Some industries have thrived during the pandemic, such as delivery services, cleaning services, online grocery and liquor stores and home gym companies.

“Small business is the engine room of the Australian economy. It will bounce back.”