In world where it was already tough to run a small business – we now have incomprehensible change. What can we do to survive?
- Take care of yourself first. The next few months will likely be tough – make sure you have a good supply at home of all the medicines you need. There are already a number of medicines unavailable now until June, don’t get taken by surprise.
- Plan for a poor cash flow.
- Now is the time to take stock of your expenses – are there any that are not essential that could be canceled even temporarily?
- What is the state of your accounts payable. How much are you going to need over the next 12 weeks to ensure they stay paid within terms?
- Examine your accounts receivable: Make a start to engage with the late payers now and get in what you can. Consider payment plans if needed. It is likely that you are going to have a large number of late payers coming up so establishing expectations and ‘being a squeaky wheel’ now will help.
- Check the levels of available cash that may be available for this rainy day time: Do you have overdraw facilities on any loans, mortgages? What is available on the credit cards? Know the cash limit you can handle now.
- Get an up-to-date figure on any monies outstanding to the ATO for both tax and BAS accounts. Can you establish a payment plan for this now. It may be useful to keep any payment plans to a longer period for a while to ensure more cash stays in the business.
- If you have staff, examine the rosters you have – do you need to adjust staffing to meet the increased/decreased workload? Are there procedures in place if a key person becomes ill and cannot attend?
- Check to see that all employee superannuation has been lodged and paid up to date. If cash flow is tight consider if it would be easier to pay it on a different schedule – you can pay superannuation via a clearing house weekly, fortnightly and monthly. If you have a lower number of staff you can pay quarterly
- If you are a producer – audit your raw materials stock. Can the stock be run down for a time? Check the availability of all items – as some may not be obtainable – is there an alternative?
- If you are running a cafe – audit the raw products for stock levels and availability – consider changing the menu to respond to what you can make in the kitchen.
- Evaluate your advertising routine: Can some of the advertising be changed quickly (in the case of temporary closure), should the budget in general be revisited?