Becoming a resilient entrepreneur amidst this unprecedented crisis
We gather teams of motivated and talented students and young professionals in order to help you remain a viable business and keep a sustainable cash position during these times of turmoil. Contact us for more information.
We help you stay afloat and navigate through these uncertain times
It is not a secret that small businesses will be strongly hit by the ongoing economic crisis. Having limited cash reserves to cope with such situation, it is of utmost importance for them to find ways to stay afloat and not run out of liquidity while social distancing and confinement measures hit them like a ton of bricks.
Institutional stimulus
The government wants you to be alive. You are a crucial cog to the proper functioning of the economic wheel and political leaders are aware of that. Given how fast the situation is currently evolving, policies designed to support businesses are created and updated on a daily basis. You should thus consistently review what help governments and financial institutions can offer you. Not applying for crucial help that is available to you might lead you to fall apart. Monitor updates frequently, apply as soon as you can, and strive to become eligible if you do not meet a criterium that is within your reach.
While this should not exempt you to track changes on your own, we will closely monitor updates issued by the federal and regional governments as well as by other institutions in order to provide frequent updates on those economic stimuli.
It is nonetheless important to realize you should not rely too heavily on governmental aid. Yes, take the most out of it. But do not expect that to bail you out. See governmental programs as catalyzers for your own continuity management initiatives.
Stakeholders cooperation
Paying a commercial rent is probably a big expense for you. Owing to a sudden huge drop in revenues, this is likely to be problematic for some of you. You should however keep in mind that although your landlord is facing the crisis too, losing a renter altogether is one of the worst things that can happen to them at the moment. Engage in respectful and professional negotiations with them in order to defer rent payments, to smooth them over different periods, and/or to be offered discounts during the crisis. Tell them they might lose you if they remain inflexible and that replacing you will likely be very hard and probably at a significant discount. Convince them they do not want to lose you.
Same goes for suppliers. If you still have payables, try to negotiate discounts and payments patterns scattered across different periods in order to reduce the financial burden. They’d rather get paid less than not get paid at all. Cooperate to design strategies that reasonably share the losses incurred.
More than ever, stakeholders are partners. Be thus open on the revenues side too. If you still have possibilities to generate some revenues, be flexible and propose offers that accommodate your customers. Low revenues are preferred to no revenues. If it is crucially important to negotiate concessions, it is equally important to make concessions for your own customers. Cooperating and collaborating effectively will be a key to remain a viable business and start off on the right foot once you will go back to normal.
Our goal is to provide free advice on how to deal with the situation according to your own context. We will mandate a team of motivated and outstanding students upon request to help you get through the crisis stronger than ever.
Written by Alexis Raedemaecker, master student in management at Bocconi University and HEC Montréal.