OK, this thing has come and thrown us around and turned our world upside down. Now that the first few weeks have passed and we know the impact is going to be long term, it is time to take control and start figuring some things out. Corona Virus Small Business Survival is key to our economy and 47% of US Jobs This pandemic is affecting small businesses in devastating ways. But, We can’t let the panic stick around and we can’t afford to stay overwhelmed. So what do we do.
We take Stock of our expenses
Let’s assume your financial statements are current and accurate; accounts reconciled, etc. We need current information to work with. If your bookkeeping is not current, then your Day 1 exercise is to do that as quickly as possible. You cannot expect to be able to make decisions without information and the information needs to be worth working with.
Print a Profit & Loss Statement for the past 12 – 15 months. With your accounting software open, look at each expense line and evaluate:
- Is this still necessary
- Does it help generate income
- Can it be paused for a couple of months
- Can it be cut out or cut back
If you need to, open the account detail and see what made up the expense total for the past year or so. Pretend like you are being forced to clean out your closet down to the 20% you actually wear. If it is not absolutely necessary, get rid of it. If it is still necessary, but at too high a price point:
- Is there a cheaper option
- Can you get by with fewer users if that affects the cost
- Will your current vendor/provider offer you a discounted price if only temporarily
One by one go through all of your expenses and decide where you can reduce your monthly overhead to generate a little less stress on your cash flow. That is Day 1. We will tackle another coping idea with Day 2.
Remember: Fear does not stop Death, it stops Life. And Worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles, it takes away from Today’s peace.
You can’t do anything good for yourself if you allow fear and worry to take center stage. Break down the issues and then create proactive solutions. Divide them into consumable chunks and attack them one-by-one.
