Small businesses are often dynamic and agile. Now is the time to use your size to your advantage and mobilise yourselves to work through COVID-19.

• Evaluate your readiness to work remotely. Focus on critical areas of your business.
• Download a video conference app and use it for your client meetings. Zoom or Skype For Business or even Whatsapp Video work well. Many of these platforms offer free services during this crisis.
• Schedule a daily ‘video scrum’ with your team to keep them engaged.
• Focus on outcomes not hours worked. Give your team clear goals to achieve daily and hold them accountable.
• Cashflow, Cashflow, Cashflow! Focus on collecting your debtors, negotiate payment terms and keep a buffer of cash in reserve during this period.
• If your accounts and payroll are not in the cloud this is the perfect time to migrate them. Moving to cloud-based-solutions allows you to work remotely and assess your business performance in near real-time.
• Many countries are starting to offer stimulus packages to SMME market – use every rebate/incentive or financial aid you can get your hands on.
• If your business is suffering financially, speak to your suppliers, landlords and creditors regarding holiday periods or extended terms. This is an extraordinary time and extraordinary solutions are required to ensure that your business stays afloat.
• Sometimes difficult decisions need to be taken , if so, best to take them earlier rather than later. Retrenchments, lay-offs, etc are never easy – but you need to ensure that your business survives this difficult period.
• Lean on your support team, accountants, lawyers, advisors – you have paid them good fees over the years and by using them now you will find a better solution to your problems during this difficult time.

You are not alone – lean on your business community, this is a time for all of us to unite and support each other.