Survival Tip Number 1: Don't despair. Take action.

If you want your business to survive a crisis, you must take action.  Hopefully you have already taken action before the crisis and planned for the future.  If you haven’t, you must start now.

A positive attitude is important. Whenever a disaster happens, whether it be Covid 19 or Cyclone Harold or a personal disaster, the one thing we know is that at some time it will pass, and if we can stay positive, we are helping ourselves to survive and come out the other side stronger.  

At the moment, running a small business must feel like a really hard thing to do. A business owner’s head is full of questions like, where are my customers coming from, how will I pay the bills, how do I keep paying your employees, how do I pay my rent?  If you are in the tourism business, it must feel especially tough. If you are facing these challenges, you are not alone.

When any crisis hits, everyone behaves in different ways.  Some people panic and are frightened, others bury their heads in the sand and hope it will just go away, some blame others, some try to carry on as usual, and some take action.

It is natural to be confused when disaster strikes and do not know what do, but running round in circles is not the same as taking useful action! You will feel tired but make no progress. So, what should be done first? 
Follow these few steps:

1. Check that everything is safe and secure – Your people, your buildings, your money, your technology, your products, and your equipment and vehicles.
2. Talk to your family, friends and your employees – Engage them in the challenge.  They may have ideas that you haven’t thought about.  You need to get over your initial feelings of fear and despair in order to become more optimistic and focused on rebuilding for the future.  This is hard to do on your own.
3. Make a plan – Be specific about what you aim to achieve, what you are going to do by what date, and who is responsible for which actions.
4. Tell everyone that you are still in business and what you are doing.  You may need to change how you think about your own business and the way you do things.  For example, if you have a tourism business aimed at overseas visitors then you need to change your thinking to how you can attract people already in the country.  Talk to your suppliers. Find the hidden strengths in your business.  Work with your employees to pinpoint what you are all really good at and how you can sell those strengths to your existing and new customers.  
5. There are two key groups of people to look after – your staff and your customers.  Treat them all with respect and care – think about anything you can do to help them and to keep you in their minds.
6. Look after yourself.  You cannot do any of this if you do not pay attention to your health, eat well, take exercise, avoid unreliable information online, and spend time with other positive people.
7. Get help – Read the newspaper, listen to the radio, watch TV, monitor reputable websites and Facebook pages and talk to other business owners to find out what assistance is being offered to businesses like yours by Government, donor partners, chamber of commerce, business associations.  If you have an accountant, they will be able to help you manage your cashflow and talk to your bank about restructuring loans. Business advisors can help you see the situation more clearly and take practical steps to survive.

In the next few articles, I will focus more on these issues and also look at what you need to do to be ready for any future disaster.

Please contact me with your own experiences and comments and with any specific questions you would like me to deal with in future articles.

Business advisors have seen many examples of businesses, good and bad, and precisely because they outsiders and do not have prior knowledge of your business, they can be objective and provide impartial advice on the strengths and weakness of the business and identify opportunities and threats you may not have noticed.

All businesses will have financial worries at the moment. Accountants are financial advisors. They can help you manage your cashflow and talk to your bank about restructuring loans. If you do not have an accountant, do not ignore your financial situation. Take basic financial information to your bank and ask what they can do to help you. Go with a trusted friend or family member who will support you.

Business advisors can help you see the situation more clearly, and help you make simple plans and take practical steps to survive. They keep everything you tell them confidential. You do not have to take their advice, but it is always worth listening to.

We are encouraging all business owners to get the advice they need to take action to survive, and so we are so pleased to be able to offer businesses survival advice free of charge through Business Link Pacific, a New Zealand funded programme to help businesses affected by the economic situation created by the virus crisis and TC Harold.  Contact me for further details. Also find information on your local Chamber of Commerce and Industry or Business Association website.

Stay safe and take care.  Coming next – tip 2 – don't be alone. Seek help.

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