In the spirit of focus on a solution, rather than the problem:
Here are my top five things a small business should prioritize in the coming week default or no.
- Know where you stand on important metrics. (If you’re a QuickBooks User here are some thoughts on how to implement this advice.) When times are tough, it’s critical to understand how you are doing compared to plan.
- Focus on collections, cash on hand and expenses.
- Know where your employees stand. There’s been a lot of talk about how tough things are for small business owners, but it hasn’t been a picnic for employees either. A new study by Met Life shows 44% of small business employees feel loyal to their employer – that’s down from 62% in 2008. More than half of employers (54%) think their employees have a strong sense of loyalty to the firm. A little more than a third of small business employees report they would rather be working somewhere else right now.
- What would you do if a critical person walked out the door?
- Cash has been king for a while, but clearly it’s even more relevant than ever this week. For capital intensive business it’s time to make sure you’re on top of either inventory or the lease / buy question. Professional services want to monetize time.
- If you don’t have a set of tasks that keep you apprised of key cash flow metrics (see #1) make sure that gets on your calendar ASAP.
- Find out what other businesses are doing to cope. There is no play book for this level of lingering economic stress combined with dynamic marketplace change. If you have a circle of trusted advisors, continue to utilize that resource. I’d also find out what you can about competitors, and consider giving some time to “hate-surfing”.
- The whole idea is to find out perspectives that won’t naturally occur to you.
- Make sure your record keeping is where it should be. If this year isn’t going to go as planned, knowing when you went off course is a big help. If you think you don’t have time now, think how much less time you’ll have if you’re dealing with (insert name of unexpected crisis).