Your Business and the Storms

The other day someone asked why I was so calm and seemingly unflappable in these crazy COVID times. I smiled.

I am of course, concerned, but when you decide to venture into the business world, it would be remiss and even naïve to think that the process will always be rosy.

It is important to understand, that the business environment will always be filled with some degree of uncertainty. As a discerning business owner, you should conserve as much as you can when the going is good, knowing that there will be times when the reserves will be needed to carry you through the storms. A common mistake made by business owners is to eat all your profits in a particular period, thinking you will make the same amount or even more in the next period.

So, you were totally unprepared when faced with COVID-19, what do you do now?

1. Do not fire your staff! You do not want to give the impression, that human resource is dispensable. Making your staff priority during the storm is how you solidify your workforce for growth in the aftermath. You may have to delay or reduce salary payments, but this is only temporary.

2. Look at the other components that make up your profit and loss statement. This will help you cut down on as many unnecessary expenses as possible in the coming months.

3. Now is a great time to look at your inventory and set a plan in motion to clear out all slow-moving items, by cutting down the selling price. You can then inject the cash into fast-moving items. It is a temporary loss that can be recovered by turning around that net profit as much as possible.

After the storm, you need to expand your playing field. Collaborate with individuals and businesses that will give you a wider reach and drive your profit up, so you can conserve it!

Remember these things;

There will always be storms, so do not eat all of your harvest. Multiplying and conserving should be at the forefront of our minds going forward.

A temporary loss of income is not the end of your business. Keep your mind alert and prepared for the next open window. It’s business, what else did you expect?

Here’s to immortalising your business!