Even if you’ve had a few bad months and predict you’re looking at another slow one, budgeting can help you ready your business for the future.

 

Save money. Cutting expenses on non-essentials and preserving your money helps you build in the flexibility to adapt to change. You need to know which costs to cut and the basic costs that must be covered to keep going. Even if you are thriving now, it’s wise to save for a rainy day rather than reinvesting everything.

 

Think & Plan Ahead. Scenario planning can help: plot the best, medium & worst case scenarios going forward, so you can read the signs of an uptick or downturn early and quickly respond What does the cash forecast look like for each one?

 

Make contingency plans including switching into alternative income streams and drawing on all your skills to support your core business. For example, a friend who owns a beauty business switched back into personal training classes whilst her salon was closed. Another friend moved all her exercise classes online during lockdown and has remained online in order to manage a holiday letting business in parallel. She can Zoom her classes from any location with WiFi.

 

Stay on your toes – speed of response & agility are essential in a crisis.