With COVID forcing individuals to shelter in place and many business owners have to shut their doors to the public, a huge financial strain has emerged. All businesses during this time have been negatively affected in some capacity. This leads to the question: What can you do to rebuild?
To start, you first need to assess the damage. Sometimes it is hard to quantify exactly how much business you may have lost due to an unforeseen circumstance such as COVID-19. One way to gauge this is to go by monthly averages of sales revenue and calculate the sales lost due to being closed. Another route is to compare year-to-year (for example, what you made last year around the same time), which is the most beneficial way to judge companies whose sales are seasonally-based.
Once you assess the damage, you will be able to make an educated decision about whether you will need to apply for funding to recover. There are quite a few options regarding loans and programs that you can apply for, including the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans, Traditional SBA 7(a) loans, and microloans, small business term loans from your bank, etc. We strongly recommend you discuss what option may be the best fit for your business with your accountant and/or financial advisor.
Another important aspect to focus on while rebuilding is your business plan. If you previously relied on foot traffic, and during COVID switched to a stronger online presence, what would you like to do moving forward? If many of your employees are now working from home, once the social distancing mandate is lifted, will they return to the office or continue to telework? These things are important to consider and are going to depend on your unique business, industry, service model, and customer-base.
Lastly, it is crucial to have a plan in place for the next crisis. COVID-19 has taught us many lessons and it is important to take those lessons and apply them to the future. How can you better mitigate the risks of your physical location being shut down? What can you do now to better prepare for the future? These are important questions to sit down and really come up with a plan moving forward.
Rebuilding is possible and we are here to support you!