The national news is rife with how important it is to get back to life after the COVID pandemic. Unfortunately, the national news is not really addressing the ongoing problems that many small business owners are experiencing locally. Is COVID really a thing of the past? Not for every business owner. The devastating effects that the pandemic has had on the economy can be difficult to come back from.
The Losses
According to the Association for Certified Fraud Examiners, on average a business will lose about 5% in revenue each year in fraud alone. Those losses did not change during the COVID pandemic. What did change is the revenue losses attributed to the shutdowns, restrictions, and other effects of the COVID pandemic.
The Small Business Administration's prediction for revenue loss from March of 2020 through March of 2021 for many small businesses is a whopping 52% loss in revenue. The pinch has been felt by every single industry, with hospitality, restaurants, and tourism suffering the greatest losses.
What Can You Do?
If you are a small business owner doing what you can to stay afloat after a full year or more of devastating losses, there are a few things you can do to shore up your business and move forward in a positive direction.
Start by cutting the operational fat from your budget. Many businesses overpay for services. For example, it is estimated that business clients overpay by about 30% for telecom services. Switching to VOIP (voice over internet protocol) can save you up to 50% off the cost of traditional telephone services.
The little changes can make a big difference in saving on costs while you rebuild your business. Another area to look at is printing services (if your business uses them). It can be cheaper to outsource printing now that print cartridges and other materials are in short supply and excessively expensive.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
The three "R"s of the recycling movement can be applied to your business. Reduce your overhead by making cuts to unnecessary services, reviewing contracts, and renegotiating with vendors. Reuse what you have on hand, instead of investing in new equipment, keep your old equipment until this all blows over. Recycle employees into other positions if necessary.
Hard Money Loans
If you have a financial gap that you need to fill, hard money loans can be the solution. You can get your proceeds in as little as seven or eight days. It can help you to have the investment capital you need fast.
National news has gone silent on resources for small business owners, but there are still some programs out there that you can take advantage of. Call the SBA in your state and the federal SBA to ask about programs that can help offset costs, and may even provide you with the working capital that you need.
Stay the Course
Those of us that are in the trenches every day understand that the national news may be painting a brighter picture than what is happening locally, but the fact is, we are at the tail end of this thing, staying the course, will pay off.
Create a plan that looks to the future. Have a 12-month plan, a three-year plan, and a five-year plan in place. This will not only help you to have a road map for bringing your business up to full steam, but it will help you to keep your eye on the prize.
Take Action
Planning is a great tool but you have to have an actionable plan, then take action. A lot of small businesses have found relief from the devastation of COVID by changing their business model, offering different product lines, changing hours of operation to save on overhead costs, and more.
In other words, you can get through this, but you may have to get creative to do it. A little innovative thinking coupled with flexibility can go a long way in helping your business recover.
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