Tip of the Week: Pandemic Problems

Now months into the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders are still in place causing most financial analysts to suggest that the economies we depend on might not look the same when business returns. Let’s outline a couple of tips that will help get your business through this terrible situation.

It may be a busted time for your business, but you need to realize that this won’t last forever. Even if yours was one of the unfortunate ones that had to pause its business; or, if you had a plan for how you would maintain your business without its traditional revenue streams, the next few months will probably be difficult for you. Let’s take a look at a few things business owners should think about while things are slow; so their business can hit the ground running when the economy reopens. 

#1: Know Your Facts

This is not a time for conjecture. Not for workers, not for their employers. The first tip we suggest is to know the facts that you need to know in order to keep you in business. Take a look at your budget and make adjustments as necessary. Do you have any resource-intensive vanity projects? Are there entitlement programs you simply can’t fund? If you don’t know, find out. It will be imperative that you do your best to only make decisions when you are confident that they will end up helping your business.

Chances are that you probably didn’t have “worldwide pandemic” as a high probability of the things that would hurt your business. Honestly, who can blame you? That said, worldwide pandemic happened and those businesses that had a dedicated plan to change the way their business functions have had a much easier time overcoming the limitations this situation has presented. 

#2: Maintain Your Relationships

If you are like many business owners you have taken years to develop the relationships that drive your business. It is extremely important to maintain those relationships even if situations arise that will strain them. Your relationships with your financial partners and institutions, your vendors, and your customers rely on honest discourse. Some companies won’t be there when this situation resolves itself, and it’s important that if you want your business to avoid that fate that maintaining solid relationships will go a long way toward that goal.

#3: Think Proactively

Cost-cutting will be the motif for most businesses in the days ahead. Unless one of your business partners makes toilet paper, they are probably hurting to balance their budget too. You will need to understand that many agreements will need to be altered in the coming days. To keep this from causing problems for your business, you will want to proactively budget for these rising costs. You can expect higher interest rates, less available capital, and shorter repayment terms on the money you are able to borrow. 

You also need to be diligent about acquiring capital. By taking proactive financial steps to get you through this period, your business will be in a much better position financially when things begin to open up a little more.

Making sacrifices is always hard, especially if your business was in good standing as the pandemic hit.  By taking the time to make conservative operational and financial decisions now, you will be able to pull the right levers to get your business through whatever comes next.

For help with your post-pandemic technology needs give Washington Works a call at 301-571-5040 today.