Steps to protect your livelihood
IDENTIFY YOUR ESSENTIAL STAFF, KEEP THEM ACROSS WHAT IS HAPPENING AND GIVE THEM A VOICE; HELP THEM TO HELP YOU KEEP YOUR BUSINESS RUNNING.
BUSINESSES must take specific measures to ensure a sustainable future beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
Here is a checklist of actions you can take to minimise negative impacts on your business:
Keep your employees up to date on the latest government advice and enforce the need for stringent personal hygiene practices in your workplace. Reiterate health and safety practices and provide infection control items such as hand sanitiser.
Revise staff travel plans and review seating arrangements in the workplace to ensure that a safe distance can be maintained between employees.
Contact your insurer to understand your insurance. Talk to your banker and discuss the possibility for a suspension of loan repayments in the short-term.
Free up your working capital by accessing term deposits and increasing overdrafts and credit card limits.
Implement systems to allow employees to work from home to allow your business to continue operating, your customers to receive a continuity of service, and your employees to feel a sense of security and a positive place to focus their energies.
Assess IT requirements such as cloud-based access to files and consider alternate means of doing business that avoid the need for physical transactions, meeting and exchanges.
Talk to your clients. Email them, write a letter, do a post on social media or better still, give your longstanding clients a call. Check in on them and let them know of any changes with your business. Give them options on how they can continue to use your services.
Review internal communication systems to allow for regular contact with the team. Systems such as Skype, Zoom and Google Meet will ensure your team stays connected. Consider employees’ internet access and bandwidth, your back-up system and access security considerations for this way of doing business. Do employees have access to suitable devices that are approved for network access?
Halt purchases of all non-essential stock. Ensure you have ample stocks of items that are in high demand and consider alternate arrangements such as home delivery and remote customer payment for purchases. Consider alternate ways of delivering your services – video conferencing, user pays access to online instructional videos and classes or resource packs.
Consider disruptions to your supply chain and have alternative suppliers pre-qualified and outsourced in case primary suppliers can no longer provide support.
Pay bills to small, local businesses and negotiate delayed invoice payments to large business customers. Request early payment terms from your large business customers, especially government – you might be surprised at the result.
Check the leave balances for each employee and advise them to take leave where possible to reduce overheads and stagger work force availability.
Avoid bill shock by cutting back on discretionary expenses and minimising waste and overhead costs like electricity and water. Consider revised budgets and multiple budgets based on the variety of possible scenarios so you can adapt.
Ensure premises, stock, vehicles and tools are protected from theft. Fill up your essential plant and fleet if you can and secure bulk fuel storage tanks if applicable.
Identify your essential staff, keep them across what is happening and give them a voice; help them to help you keep your business running.
Conducted a thorough risk assessment to identify areas of impact across your business by considering people, processes and financials. Measures should be implemented to minimise your exposure to these risks and mitigate them.
Investigate and access available funding packages to ensure continuity for your business and our economy.
Talk to your accountant so your business can withstand disruption and find out if your business qualifies for the recently announced stimulus package.