You’re worried about everything right now. Your family, your health, your staff, your future. This means that those difficult decisions you’re having to make in your business are carrying so much extra weight. You’re bogged down and overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. And you’ve frozen. 

If that sounds like you, here’s what we’re telling our clients who are calling us every day right now to be mentored through these urgent decisions:

The truth is, you don’t have a lot of control over most of these problems. 

But the things you do have control over inside your business, probably come down to a few key decisions that need to be made.

Do you:

• Lay off staff or furlough them?
• Get a loan or ride it out?
• Shut up shop or try to pivot?

Yes, it seems overwhelming. But as I talk and work with clients right now, I realised that those decisions become no brainers when someone’s ability to present you the figures that show you’re going to run out of money next month. All that’s left then perhaps, is a hard conversation.

And that’s the other thing. You’re not only isolated physically right now but as business owners, those you once confided in or used as sounding boards are now going to be directly affected by the decisions you’re making. So being there for our clients, listening to them, empathising, and counselling them is another big part of what we’re doing right now. A conversation with your accountant shouldn’t just be about the figures, because we know those figures represent so much more.

5 Questions to ask yourself to filter out the facts from the emotion

These decisions to be made sooner rather than later, so if this is something you’re struggling with, here are 5 questions you need to be asking to help you filter out the facts from the emotion.

1. How many months can your business survive with reduced or no income before it runs out of cash?
2. Can you reduce your staff costs by furloughing staff or making redundancies?
3. Are there any other costs can you turn off or reduce?
4. Can you work differently or find different sources of revenue?
5. What access do you have to finance to cover any short-term cash shortfalls?

If you think you need some more support with this, we’re here to talk. Let’s jump on a call to see if we’re a good fit.