Hey business owner, I know that things are pretty stressful right now. Heck, things are stressful even when there isn’t a pandemic going on. I know what it’s like to be worried about cash flow, payroll, my team members, and all of the other decisions that come with being a business owner, so I can relate to everything you’re feeling right now. I wanted to share a couple of thoughts with you because, above all else, we don’t need to let our stress dictate our decisions, even though there are some decisions we need to make right now.
1) Focus on Cash Flow
Of course, you know that the way you keep the business moving is by having enough cash on hand to keep moving in case sales dry up. Right now, you should be doing things to conserve cash. But at the same time, be careful of what you cut. There’s certainly a chance that this won’t get any worse than it is right now.
Maybe you have a few recurring expenses that are more of a luxury than a necessity, and obviously those would be cut first. But there are also a couple of areas that you would ideally save for last, and one of those is your team. Now, if you have someone on your team that you’ve been thinking about cutting because they’re not the right fit anyway, then, sure, it makes sense to shed that salary right now.
But keep this in mind – once we make it to the other side of this pandemic, and we will get through it – your team is going to be closer because of it, and you want to keep your rock stars by your side.
That being said, I think there will be lots of people looking for new jobs in the next 3-6 months, but you and I both know just how hard it is to find great people. And if you have great people right now, you need to do everything you can to keep them.
2) Be Wary of Cutting Your Marketing Budget
Sure, I might be a little biased considering I run a marketing company, but marketing is what drives revenue.
If you’re worried about cash flow and you cut off your marketing, you might be sealing your own fate. While there may be places you can trim your marketing budget, it would be a big mistake to cut all of it. Your competitors might panic and slash their marketing, but you can use this opportunity to get ahead. Think about this – the people that have the cash to invest in the stock market are the ones who are going to win from this entire situation. The same goes for your marketing.
You can be one of the people who pull back, or you can start investing in the right places, which are your people and your marketing.
3) Be Confident and Project Positivity
Regardless of how things feel today, it’s important to believe that things are going to be okay in the long run. Politics aside, you need to trust the government and our healthcare system and remember that, as a country, we’ve gone through tough times in the past. Even more, every bear market has been followed by a bull market typically within 6-18 months.
Additionally, your team needs you to be honest with them, but they also need you to be someone who can assure them that everything will be okay. I believe a lot of the panic that exists right now has been born from everyone simply confirming each other’s emotions out of a general awareness of what is going on, yet without fully understanding what we’re going through.
As business owners, let’s be leaders and not contribute to the panic, but rather create some calm, create some perspective, and create some confidence.
Spotlight Branding
Latest posts by Spotlight Branding (see all)
- The 5 Stages of Awareness for Legal Marketing – Ep 664 - April 26, 2024
- Stages Of Awareness: Solution Aware (Part 3) - April 26, 2024
- What Makes Your Law Firm Different? – Ep 663 - April 25, 2024
