For freelancers, startups and small business owners, the COVID-19 pandemic likely has impacted daily life and your business. Startup funding is drying up, employees are being furloughed or in general, we're all living in a state of uncertainty. You may be wondering if there's anything that you can do that could save your business during a crisis.
Our advice - Don't Panic! You may be better off than you thought.
Steps you can take to save your business in a crisis.
Communicate
First and foremost, communicate with your employers, investors and customers. It's easy to hide or panic out of fear but you have to remember that they're looking to you for guidance. Sure, maybe you don't know what the next step is. Maybe you don't have enough information to determine if your business is recession ready. Still, be as transparent as possible as you gather the data to take your next steps. Communication alone may help you to stay in business longer than you expected.
Gather the Data
Growing businesses must be aware of expenses, debt and other finances in order to make proper business decisions. Take a deep dive into your expenses to get rid of tools or other overhead that is no longer necessary to run your business. Now might also be the time to skim down on investments or growth strategies so that you can maintain a steady flow of income during this time. Review your cash flow statements and forecasts and adjust where necessary.
Collect What's Owed to You
If your business has receivables that are delinquent, even the smallest amounts, it's advisable to collect as soon as possible. Accounts receivable clean up is a service offered that can help track down low priority invoices and help your business determine why your clients pay late. Getting organized in this way will help improve days sales outstanding and increase working capital quickly.
Put It In Perspective
While it's true that no one has a clear picture of how long this crisis will last, we can look to other countries across the world to see that it may be temporary. With that in mind, there may be opportunities that can help pull your company through to the other side. Look to small business support from government stimulus packages. Consider alternative ways to do business in this time (as an example, several small whiskey distilleries are creating hand sanitizer to help during the crisis) or alternative revenue streams. Talk to creditors to see if you can push a payment out until later. Most importantly, protect yourself, your family and your customers by choosing calm over fear and taking necessary precautions to stay healthy too.
Enterprise Recovery provides our professional services and access to remote monitoring of our A/R Management and Collection software for a $0.00 set-up fee (free.) Clients can hire our dedicated A/R collection specialists for less than the cost of a Full-Time employee, or opt for a no fixed-cost price plan that bases compensation entirely on our performance / success. Let us know if we can help!
