Help and support when you need it most
The COVID-19 crisis has been stressful for almost everyone, and it’s no different for business owners. If you’re running your own business, meeting the needs of employees, customers, your business and yourself is complicated at the best of times – and far more difficult during a global recession. No business owner wants to lay off employees or shut up shop, but lockdown restrictions and reduced spending mean these are very real possibilities for many.
Keeping your staff paid, your customers happy, and your business afloat during a staggering downturn is a challenge, even for experienced business owners.
That’s why, even if you’re cutting costs, it’s essential to keep your accountant around. And if you don’t have one, work it into the budget. A great accountant can help you access support, prioritise spending, and keep you moving forward, even at the worst of times.
Here’s how:
Keep spending down and staff around
If you’re a sole trader, your business decisions only affect you and your family. But if you have employees, your decisions have wider implications. Making a wrong turn could lead to layoffs or your business closing altogether, leaving your staff with reduced or no income to support their families. That added pressure and responsibility is part of what makes running a business so stressful – even at the best of times.
During this crisis, keeping your staff around means cutting costs where you can, and prioritising salaries or wages over less important expenses. After all, without your staff, you probably wouldn’t be able to keep your business going at all.
Experienced accountants can advise on cutting back expenses and managing cash flow, even if sales are down. They’ll be able to help you prioritise spending for the next year or two so you can minimise the impact on your staff. Of course, if the crisis worsens, your business could continue to be affected and staff could still lose their jobs. But if you’ve done your best to keep people employed, you’ll feel that you’ve done everything you could.
Adapt to survive
Even if you’re in panic mode trying to minimise costs and hang onto your people, it doesn’t mean you can ignore the work of your business. Keeping clients or customers around is more important now than ever. Even if you’re not able to sell products or provide services during lockdown, you should be doing your best to maintain relationships, so they come back when things get back to normal.
Keeping clients around could mean offering discounts or specials, staying in touch and offering support during lockdown, or changing your product or service to fit changing needs in our changed world. Takeaways instead of dine-in, delivery instead of pick-up, hygiene or health-related products instead of beauty products – it all depends on what your business does.
Your accountant should be able to help you with your pandemic pivot by negotiating with suppliers, forecasting stock needs, or simply by offering advice about your next moves.
Support to get you through
There are options out there for struggling businesses – but they’re not going to come to you. If you need support, you need to know what you’re entitled to and how to apply.
Government wage subsidies could help you pay your staff during the crisis, loan repayment holidays or personal mortgage holidays could help minimise costs, short-term loans could give you a much-needed cash boost, and tax write-offs could help as well. It all depends on your specific financial situation.
Working out which type of support you qualify for, and which option makes the most sense for your business? That’s another job for your accountant, who knows your financial situation better than anyone else, so should be able to help you choose and access support that works for you.
Doing your best to survive
In a time of crisis, doing nothing isn’t an option. If your business keeps going as it always has, you’ll be left behind in a rapidly changing world. That’s why a great accountant is so important – to help you make the right moves and give you the best chance of survival.
The businesses that plan, prioritise their people, cut costs, and take advantage of support from the government have the best chance of getting through the COVID-19 crisis intact. And if nothing else, knowing that you’ve done everything you can to support your staff and your customers might help you sleep better at night.
Need help with financial decisions and business planning during Covid-19? Get in touch with the team at Thrive now.