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There’s no doubt it’s been an extremely difficult period for business owners. Trying to keep afloat, treading water until lockdown ends – so it’s easy to be distracted and lose track of the good business practices.
These top tips from our Partners and Managers are mostly reminders that are important to your business at any time, but particularly now when it’s easy to forget or set aside regular business management tasks.
Communication
Communication is key. Ensure you are open and upfront when communicating with staff, suppliers, customers and associates.
Remember it’s likely everyone connected to your business is in a similar boat, so it’s important to communicate with those that owe you money and those you may owe. Let them know what is happening and discuss a payment plan that suits both parties.
Keeping staff updated is critical and be as honest about the situation as possible. Even with so many unknowns, it’s important to provide assurance and confidence to your staff – if they’ve stuck around during the storm, you’re going to need them more than ever when it passes to help get your business back-on-track.
Don’t let things slide
In all the chaos of the past few months, it’s easy to either forget or put off doing the general business activity that keeps your business going in normal times, so when it comes to improving cash flow, put time into collecting old debts by having open discussions and putting payment plans in place where full payments aren’t possible.
Use this to prepare a cash flow forecast so you know exactly what you have to ride the tide ahead.
Defer key payments
Speak to your landlord, bank and lenders to arrange deferral of payments for rent and loans, where possible. Create a plan for when payment will resume.
Peer Support
Remember that you’re not alone, reach out and talk to your peers. Sharing your experience can help solve or avoid problems.
Stay on top of Government support initiatives;
- Revenue NSW has deferred the payment due dates for the 2020/21 annual payroll tax reconciliation as well as the July and August monthly payments until 7 October.
- See NSW COVID Support packages and deadlines for more support initiatives
This has been hard. It’s expected that you’d be so focused on the immediate threats to your business, that some tasks get pushed aside – but it’s important for your business to be as prepared as possible for a return to business, as we inch toward a new normal.
Finally, we encourage you to call us – if you don’t know where to start to get things back on track, we will help.
