COVID19 has forced businesses to face dozens of complicated decisions impacting them in a variety of ways; the survivors will adjust and win. 

As many of you have noticed, I’m quite active and vocal on social media. Don’t worry, I’ve had to take a break from the rants to write this heartfelt note to business owners about how to adjust to the next normal with COVID-19. 

There’s no way to avoid it; the news about the Corona Virus. Regardless of what you think of it, it’s impact is all over the news. You literally can’t turn on the news or check your social media feed for more than 60 seconds without seeing something about it. But, what can small business owners do? What can they control? What decisions can they make to adjust and survive? After all, many small business owners have had to adjust many times already to ensure their survival up to this point. Right? That’s what we’re good at; surviving.

So, What does this look like specifically? How can business owners adjust? I, for one, am a business owner who had to adjust this past month or so since the government issued the stay at home order. I had to shift to managing my team remotely and helping my “little coworkers” (my kiddos) with their projects. I no longer can walk over to their office and talk to them.

I’ve had to adjust. I’ll admit it’s been tough. I remember the day I had a minor breakdown and how I got out of it. I’m sharing this with you in hopes that you’ll refrain from judging and hear my process of pulling myself out of a dark spot. The day I had a breakdown (you might call it a panic attack, felt similar) started off like any other day; dozens of clients wanting an answer to this question or that question. Mostly, the questions are about their books, reports, or loan statuses. My team is great at handling these inquiries and client requests. It’s not a big deal. 

What my breakdown looked like though was the result of almost 3 weeks without playing basketball, 3 weeks of being “the guy they call to vent about the government shutting down their business,” 3 weeks of little to no sleep as I had worked nearly every day during that 3 week span for at least 14 hours each day, 3 weeks of new updates from the government about how business owners should conduct their business, 3 weeks of governmental bodies telling banks how to lend money to the businesses other governmental bodies shut down with guidelines changing almost every day (they’re still changing almost every day), 3 weeks of “no childcare” so now I’m working from home, trying to be a full time kindergarten teacher and take care of a toddler while handling constant conference calls about the above topics. 3. brutal. weeks. 

I’m not looking for a pity party. I’m describing my life so you can understand how I came to hit a low. It was a rough time. I ended up calling my therapist to get some help with getting my mind right. His resounding message went something like this: “Matt. You’re a bright and talented business consultant. You’ve had to figure out complicated problems before. That’s why people hire you. You’ll need to figure out this complicated problem too.” He went on to say, “Start with this: Focus on what you can control and let go of all the other things for now. Then, get back into a daily routine; work out in the morning, eat right, drink lots of water, take a lunch break, don’t work a million hours a week.” His parting words were, “Determine what your clients need most during these unprecedented and tumultuous times. They are likely dealing with the same struggles you are and having a difficult time adjusting. Maybe you can find your value and new direction in helping them through the same process.”  

He was right. And having this renewed sense of purpose was a breath of fresh air.  I was off. I was focusing on tons of things I can’t control. I can’t control what the government says. I can’t control what they do (I’m not running for office anytime soon.) I can’t control what the banks do. I can’t control what the media comes out with. I definitely can’t control what people post on Facebook. What I needed was to get back to focusing on what I can control. I can control what information I read. I can control what I allow my mind to be focused on. I can control the direction of my life and help my clients in a similar way. 

This breakdown happened at the end of a long and tiring 3 weeks. It was a rough 48 hours to reach my rock bottom. Cry a little. And rebound. But I knew I needed to get back to work. I had rediscovered my value and I was ready to be that guiding light to clients. I journaled about this a lot, prayed about it, let it sit for a while (I’m usually very diligent in getting my newsletters and blogs out the door on the first of the month), but it had to sit. I needed to feel like I was really ready. I had to be focused. I had to make sure this would really help. I never want to be accused of distracting, misdirecting, or otherwise sidetracking business owners.

Here’s what I came up with to help business owners:

1. Regardless if they believe in the news of COVID-19, it’s time to adjust.
2. No matter how their life looked before, it’s time to adjust.
3. Life before March 1, 2020 isn’t going to be the same as life going forward, it’s time to adjust
4. Business decisions, life decisions, risk tolerances aren’t going to be the same, it’s time to adjust.
5. Business owners are a resilient group. They’re the risk takers. I need to remind them that others who choose the 9-5 career route with a salaried role and paid time off may not think the same and it’s time for us (the business owners) to adjust our thinking a little so we can serve our clients with our business. 

Seems easy. That’s a small list. But what does that look like specifically? I broke it down into several categories.

Cash Adjustments

It’s never been more important to be conservative about cash allocations. Many clients seek my team’s advice on how to best manage their cash flow. It’s not a skill many schools teach, even if you get a “business degree.” You have to be very meticulous about your unpaid bills report, accounts receivable aging report, and cash flow forecasting models. It’s a science, and with incoming cash being extremely unstable, you have to be careful not to miscalculate.

What I mean by being conservative with cash is that you have to be very careful about new expenditures, new investments, new endeavors, new hires, and new cash outlays. You absolutely have to ensure you have enough cash to sustain necessary business operations, make all minimum payments, and keep things going. 

BUT. Don’t cut out all your marketing dollars! OMG no. You’ll still need to get new clients. Don’t cut out the items that help your business run on the day to day; accountants, consultants, contractors. You may need to get a little creative with how you work with these individuals (I’d be happy to have a conversation with you about the creativity I’m referring to.) Remember, you’ll need these relationships strong when business returns full swing.

Marketing Adjustments

It’s time to look at how you were marketing your business before March 1, 2020. And, how are you going to pivot your marketing message to reach people who are likely scared, looking for safety, and wanting to trust a brand that can respect their concerns. You need to be that brand. You have to have that message. It’s not weak, it’s adjusting to the Next Normal. If you want your business to survive, this is an absolute must; revisiting how you market your brand.

Perhaps this is creating a message to your following (either through a newsletter, social post, website revamp, or sign on your door) that describes the steps you’re taking to cater to the general population. What preventative measures are you using? Advertise them. Working remotely and still able to see clients virtually? Advertise this. Doing a curbside service? Let people know. 

Staffing Adjustments

Revisiting your hiring strategy is key here. A lot of business owners had goals and aspirations (as they do every year) for expanding their business. Instead of focusing on expanding the business, it might be time to look at repurposing the staff you currently have. Meaning, perhaps the roles that people had 2-3 months ago are no longer as important in the short term as a role that better aligns with serving customers today.

Perhaps hiring full time people could be put on pause while you hire contractors to fulfill a specific role. Yes. This is likely to be at a higher rate. But, this is a short term solution. It helps you better manage your time; hiring a contractor is supposed to be akin to hiring an expert who needs very little guidance to accomplish a task.

Instead of hiring a full time business development person and giving them the daunting task of social media management, closing new clients, etc., you could hire a freelancer to help with your social media posts only. This is much more laser focused and will likely help you get more measurable results. 

Instead of hiring a full time administrator, bookkeeper, sales person, or IT Professional, perhaps consider outsourcing that for the time being so you can stay focused on your short term goals. How you handle your business and team over the next 3-6 months is critical to your long term success.

Leading Adjustments

How you lead your team during this time tells your team what your priorities are. Your team likely needs a leader. They need to be reassured that things are going to be fine. They need you to be their source of inspiration. Even if you aren’t really feeling very inspirational, you have to be that for them. 

This could look like a daily, morning video call. Yes. A video call. Where you can see each other and check in to get the day going. It could be an all team video call where everyone goes over their task list for the day or week and explains what obstacles they are anticipating. 

Be careful, though, with how much you let your team into your daily stresses. If you’re worried about your business’s finances, perhaps that’s a better conversation to have with a consultant, banker, or therapist than your team. If you’re worried about the government shutdown affecting the business, perhaps spin this to get the team’s feedback. Something like, “Hey, so here’s what we need to be focused on: How can we best serve and be sensitive to our clients during this time? What can we do?” 

Banking Adjustments

Frustrated with how your bank handled the PPP process with your application? Maybe it’s time to consider if another lending and banking institution is a better fit for your business. I advise all my clients to maintain at least 2 banking relationships at all times so they have options whenever a lending need comes up. 

Collecting payments and accounts receivable management is key for all businesses. If your collection process is clunky, now is a perfect time to streamline that. QuickBooks offers a great solution for charging credit cards, sending invoices, collecting ACH payments, and automatic payments. 

HR Adjustments

New policies are going to be needed for your team and business. How you conduct interviews, hire, and coach your team is going to be different. It just is. Perhaps, doing virtual interviews and coaching could be easier for everyone and more time efficient too. It’s important to consider everyone’s sensitivities instead of assuming that everyone thinks just like you. 

Especially during the next few months, if you received Paycheck Protection Program money, you have to be careful about terminating employees. There are specific guidelines from the government about total employee headcount that have to be followed to ensure success loan forgiveness.

Bringing your team back to work is going to take lots of considerations. For starters, the financial side of things is much more complicated than ever before. I’ve heard from lots of business owners that they know their staff is receiving more on unemployment than they were making working for them. This puts a strain on the business and potentially for that employee relationship.

Safety precautions are an absolute must. You could take it as far as Chick-Fil-A did, or you could have company policies like Menards implemented. Either way, you want to be cautious. Order your PPE early, ensure sanitation protocols are kept, and stay up to date with any guidelines from the CDC and Health Departments.

Technology Adjustments

If there’s one thing I learned during the Shelter In Place order and business shut down period, it’s that technology can either help or hurt your business. A flexible phone system, for example, is just one way your business can keep going even among the craziest of times. The phone company I recommend to all customers allows you to reroute phone calls to cell phones, voicemails, remote answering services, all from the click of a few buttons. You can even make outbound calls from your cell phone and have it show the office number. 

Video calls and virtual hangouts are becoming the norm. Using a setup like Zoom or Google Hangouts are becoming more and more popular. Having a lightning fast and reliable internet service provider means more today than ever before. Especially if you have the family home and on their respective devices all day. You have to have good internet service.

After thinking about all these adjustments, I’d love to hear what adjustments your business has made recently. How have you had to adjust to ensure your business continues? What have you had to come to terms with and change? I’m curious, please let me know in the comments. 

What I would love you to take away from reading this article is this: It’s time to adjust to the next normal. There’s no other way to put it. It’s time. If you want your business to win, you have to adjust. While you’re adjusting, keep in mind that you can only control so much. So, focus on what you can control and release the rest.