03/17/2020
We are in the beginning stages of a financial crisis that will only worsen over the next few weeks and perhaps even days from now. Some businesses will not be impacted as much as others but it is safe to presume that most SMB's will suffer significantly from this global pandemic.
Regardless of the severity that COVID-19 will have on your company in particular, we urge you to please devise a Business Continuity Plan. This plan should be tailored in order to cope with the unique challenges posed by the Coronavirus. Your Business Continuity Plan should include the following 6 elements:
🧐Cash Flow Management - Forecast the second half of March through the end of May (which can certainly extend into the future if deemed necessary). Your financials will need to be monitored daily and under no circumstances should you ever deviate from the course. Ensure that cash is in a healthy state until the end of May at least. This will include prioritizing vendor payments, understanding the impact that upcoming expenses will have on your available funds (including payroll, rent, COGS, and other fixed operational expenses).
📱Communication - Stay educated and informed on the proposed relief plans in the works. Follow our page in order to receive our interpretation of any updates that will impact small businesses. The SBA is also providing up to $2M in loans for businesses with less than 500 employees impacted by the Coronavirus. Find out if you qualify. The relief bill should benefit both employees and employers but at this time we do not know how much actual relief there will be.
☂️Protection - Prepare for the absolute worst case situation and perform scenario-based planning using little to no revenue in your BCP. What changes will you need to incorporate immediately in order to survive this particular scenario? Protect your business from falling victim to this unprecedented event.
💻Remote Work Adaptation is actually something that should benefit your firm in the long term. Fortunately, our team at Cubepros have been working remotely for the last 7.5 years and are well versed and experienced with remote applications and cloud software. These tools will help boost your efforts to enhance your back office and allow employees to work from home when necessary and/or allow business owners to keep in touch with staff while not physically present. On the surface, applications like Zoom, Workplace from Facebook, Slack, If Pinger and Loom are essentials in our opinion. Many of these applications are free or no less than $10/month. Equip your firm with powerful software that helps you stay connected and operationally efficient.
👂Remain Calm and Talk! Get if off your chest. We are here for you. We will get through this together as long as we stay calm, stay true to your plan and be prepared to ace everything that you are able to control. Nobody is responsible for the situation that we are in as this is truly a freak event that will go down as simply weird and completely unexpected. Please note that you are not alone.
✍️Take Advantage of Downtime! While business is (hopefully) as slow as it ever will be, take this time to develop employee training and faster onboarding processes, create content and elevate your online presence, organize your back office and study your financial statements. Learn which months are stronger than others and why. Are there signs of seasonality and, if so, what can you do to improve your low months? Analyze your fixed expenses and identify areas where you can cut out any unnecessary fat. Do you possess a firm understanding of your balance sheet? Your balance sheet is as equally important as your Profit and Loss. We are here to help you dissect your business and prepare it for success as soon as the effects of this pandemic are mitigated.
Enjoy and cherish your time at home with family, stay safe and remain positive!
❤️ Cubepros
