All business owners, but predominantly retailers, leisure and entertainment trades, will have seen their hard-won capital all but exhausted by the needs to meet fixed costs when income generation has been restricted or eliminated by lock-down directives during the early years of the COVID pandemic, and more recently by the downturn in global trade due to the war in Ukraine, inflation, rising interest rates and increases in energy costs.
In the face of these challenges what can beleaguered business owners do to protect their capital base and be in a position step back into the ring as and when consumers start to edge out of their front doors and start spending?
Here’s a few ideas for you to think about:
- List all of your fixed costs, those that you have to pay even if you have no income coming in and cancel as many as you can that can be re-established when markets open up again. Obviously, many will be tied to contracts that cannot be broken. In which case:
- Contact suppliers, landlords, service providers etc., and see if you can negotiate a moratorium on payments for a period, a reduction in payments or the cancellation of contracts.
- When this work is done rework your business plan for the next year and speak to your bank or other sources to secure any cash required to meet the likely dips in cash resources.
- Importantly, start to think about waking up your business when consumer interest in spending starts to increase demand for your goods or services.
And finally, speak to us. There is no substitute for sharing this planning process with your professional adviser. We know your business. We know how you have burned the midnight oil to develop your business and the problems you have overcome along the way. We can, and we want to help. Cal now so we can start to unravel your options.